Mr Monk and the problems of Love
by NicoleCollard
Summary: LAST CHAPTER UPDATED! Sharona is back in San Francisco five years later to ask for Monk's help. Monk, Natalie, Randy and Stottlemeyer will face this new and tense situation in their own way. Will the old wounds reopen? Will LOVE win the final battle?
1. Chapter 1: Unexpected news

**Chapter 1: Unexpected news**

_Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic ever! I'm pretty sure you're going to find a lot of grammatical mistakes because I'm from Spain and English isn't my language. I'm sorry, I did my best… I hope you can understand and enjoy it. :)_

_This story was inspired by Sharona's upcoming return. I don't know what the plot of the episode will be, so I invented it in order to bring her back with an acceptable excuse. I'm really sorry I'm not one of Monk writers and I'm not able to think of a fantastic case for Monk to solve and for you to read, so you'll have to be satisfied with a bit of feelings and relationships between the main characters. I don't consider myself a fan of this pairing thing, but I think Love is everything, so I decided to show some different kinds of Love that I can see/imagine on Monk TV show. What will happen at the end of this story? Monk/Natalie? Natalie/Randy? Sharona/Monk? Randy/Sharona? Guess it! (Where is poor Leland, by the way?)_

_For the disclaimers: I own nothing, of course!_

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When Natalie closed the front door, she thought it was going to be a very nice and radiant morning. It was November, but the sun was shining bright over San Francisco, so she took off her red jacket and hung it on her bag. Even people seemed to be happy on the street as long as they were reached by that atypical sunlight. Natalie drove he car towards Monk's house wearing a wide smile on her mouth and thinking about the potentially promising day with joy. She was harbouring real hopes of getting a new case to be solved by Adrian Monk in his usual brilliant way.

Lost in her thoughts as she was going upstairs, she opened Monk's front door and entered the house whistling softly. Everything was calm and neat and perfect there. The three black umbrellas were hanging in their right way on the right wall, and she noticed the carpet had been recently vacuumed. It wasn't until she reached the living room and she saw her boss that Natalie started to think something went wrong.

"Mr. Monk! What is it? Are you okay?"

Monk was sitting on the couch with both hands covering his face. Next to him his phone could be heard making that repetitive noise phones make when they've been left off the hook after speaking. Monk didn't even look at her.

"Mr. Monk, what's up?!"

Natalie threw her bag and jacket on the table and knelt in front of her boss, putting her hands on Monk's knees carefully with a horrible sensation inside her stomach. Slowly Monk discovered his face and gave her a sorrowful look before saying in a worrying faint voice:

"She… is… back…"

Of course, Natalie didn't know who Monk was talking about, but anyone's return couldn't be such a bad thing as the thoughts that had come to her mind when she first saw her boss in that state.

"My God, Mr. Monk, you scared me! Who is back?"

"She… is… back…" repeated Monk with an empty look which seemed to pass through Natalie. It was like she wasn't there with him.

"Come on, Mr. Monk. Who is back?"

Suddenly, she thought of Trudy (or at least a fake of her came to Natalie's mind), because she remembered too vividly the case where they discovered that a woman was pretending she was Monk's late wife some years ago. That experience had nearly pushed Monk into another catatonic period, so Natalie started to be really worried about him.

"I can't believe it", said Monk leaning back against the couch, still looking through Natalie's body as if he weren't noticing her presence. "She threw me into three months of acute desperation when she left… Why does she come back now?" Then, he seemed to realise Natalie was still kneeling in front of him, so his next sentence was directly addressed to her. "What is she looking for five years after, Natalie?"

Natalie was aware that she wasn't as clever as Mr. Monk, but now it wasn't necessary such a great amount of intelligence to figure out who Mr. Monk was talking about.

"Okay…" said Natalie sitting on her feet, but keeping her hands on Monk's knees. "So _Sharona_ is back".

Monk nodded slightly looking to his left side, and apparently discovering the lamp which was on the table he started to touch it with his forefinger again and again. Natalie leaned forward and grabbed Monk's arm softly, trying to prevent him to go on touching the lampshade.

"Mr. Monk, it's okay. Don't touch it again, please. Everything is going to be okay, believe me. Who told you she's back? Did she call?" asked Natalie looking at the noisy phone.

He shook his head with a sad expression in his face and said in a low voice, "The Captain did".

'_She didn't even tell him by herself_', thought Natalie a bit annoyed. She looked at Monk for a while putting her thoughts in order and then said in her best spirits, "Come on, Mr. Monk, it isn't that bad. Maybe you aren't mad about seeing her, but I'm sure you are curious. Don't think she left you, Mr. Monk; just think she did her best trying to help you in the worst moment of your life. I think she deserves a truce, don't you agree?"

This time, Monk looked at Natalie in the eye without saying a word, as if he were struggling against some bad thoughts. A moment later, he sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't know what to think, Natalie. She left me, as everybody does, and restarted her life far away from me, without thinking of me a little bit."

"I haven't left you yet, Mr. Monk, have I?"

"You will, for sure. Some day you will close that door for the last time and I won't see you or Julie again, and I will die alone in this couch…" said Monk beginning to cry as he did when he started to exaggerate about everything around him. He lay down to his right side and bent his knees to fit better in the couch.

"Come on, come on. Don't start with that again!" said Natalie hurrying to sit down next to him. "I'm right here and I don't think about leaving. You're sometimes quite annoying, Mr. Monk, okay, but everyone has their own faults. You're a fantastic person, too, and very intelligent, and Julie and I love you so much!"

Monk glanced at her with a sceptical look for a while, but a moment later he sat up straight in the couch with Natalie's hand on his right arm. He had to admit that she was really good at what she did, because she was able to calm him down nearly in every situation.

"Wow, this time it didn't take me a long time to settle you down" said Natalie with a funny smile. "I think the only thing you want today is a bit of attention, don't you, Mr. Monk?"

She went on smiling as she picked up the phone from the couch and put it down. Monk was still wiping some invisible tears from his eyes when she asked "Okay, so what did the Captain say?"

Monk looked at her pretending he was upset by her question, but he answered immediately "He said Sharona needed my help with some strange thing that happened in her family. Her uncle died, I think, but I'm not sure…"

"Well, so we're leaving now. Take your coat, Mr. Monk" said Natalie standing up. "It isn't cold outside, but you'd better put it on. I don't want you to catch a cold" she trembled as she remembered the last time Monk had been ill.

Adrian Monk stood up reluctantly and still glancing at Natalie with his most disapproving look.

"Come on, Mr. Monk, you're no longer a child. You're a full-grown man, and you have to face your fears!" she stopped right there because she knew perfectly that Monk wasn't able to do that. Noticing Monk's expression when he passed by her side to reach his bedroom, she decided to add a bit of fun to her statement. "Where do you want us to put Sharona in your list?"

Monk looked daggers back at her without saying a word and he disappeared by the door of his room. Smiling again, Natalie picked up her bag and jacket from the table, looked around to check that everything was right, sighed to encourage herself and when she turned there was Monk in his long brown coat shrugging his shoulders.

"You look great, Mr. Monk. Let's go" said Natalie taken him by the arm and pulling towards the front door.

Monk let her do, but when they reached the end of the corridor and Natalie opened the door he suddenly stopped.

"What is it now?" asked Natalie losing her patience.

Monk stared at her with a curious and deep look and said "I wonder what Randy is thinking in this very moment…"

"Randy…?" was the last word which came from Natalie's mouth before she closed the door behind them.

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_Well, I hope you like it. It's been very very very difficult for me to write this first chapter. Review it, please!_


	2. Chapter 2: Unexpected feelings

**Chapter 2: Unexpected feelings**

"What!?!?" yelled Lt. Disher with his eyes wide open. A moment later he smiled a little bit and said "Okay, Captain, good one. I thought you were being serious."

Randy shook his head with a funny expression and heaved a sigh of relief. Then he looked at Stottlemeyer again only to find his grave face looking back at him without the slightest sign of a smile on it.

"What?" repeated Randy, "you must be pulling my leg!"

"I'm not, son" Stottlemeyer said leaning back in his swivel chair.

"Come on! She can't be back!"

Randy Disher was standing in the middle of Stottlemeyer's office with his hands on his hips, absolutely taken aghast.

"She is, indeed. She is driving towards this police station at this very moment."

"Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't you tell me!?"

"I'm doing it, Randy! She called about half an hour ago" said Stottlemeyer being patient.

"And why is she coming back to San Francisco? Did she tell you?" Lt. Disher asked trying not to sound too eager to know.

"She needs some help from Monk, of course. His uncle was killed one week ago in Oakland and she is the main suspect because of his will. He left everything to Sharona and it wasn't a secret that she and her family needed the money desperately, so-"

"I'm sure she did it."

"Randy! Really, can't you get over this? She left five years ago! She was never your girlfriend!"

It was obvious that Randy felt that attack as a blow below the belt. He glanced at the Captain with a twisted look, keeping his hands still on his hips, and he started to stutter. "You… I mean… this… well… I feel nothing for her!"

"Okay, dude, don't get mad at me. They're your feelings. I don't care about what you-"

"I said I feel nothing for that woman. I… have a full life and I'm very happy... and proud... and jubilant... and pleased... and-"

"Enough, Randy" the Captain said closing his eyes to keep calm.

"- delighted… and overjoyed… and-"

"Randy! Shut up!" shouted Stottlemeyer finally. Randy stopped and looked down as an uncomfortable silence filled the office before the Captain started to speak again, once he had already breathed deeply five or six times. "Okay, Lieutenant, listen to this: Sharona is going to show up in about half an hour and I want you to be kind and helpful because it's your duty, right? And please, don't do anything stupid. I beg you, Randy. Understood?"

Randy looked at him for a moment or two and then, nodded. Stottlemeyer nodded too and he stood up at the sight of Monk and Natalie running in their direction from the hall. Randy hurried to open the door for them. Natalie entered the room panting heavily and she left her bag and jacket on the sofa when Monk was already starting to ask questions.

"Why, Leland? Why?"

"That's exactly what I asked!" joined Randy adopting the same expression Monk had in his face. "Wow, I made the same question that you! I made it before, actually."

'_They'll kill me, for sure_' thought Stottlemeyer looking at Natalie's rolling eyes. "This isn't important at all, but I have to say it: Monk did it first, Randy. We spoke by phone."

"Why did you tell him first?" asked Randy in great amazement.

"Well, because… Because I DID FEEL LIKE IT! Natalie, could you take Randy away, please? I want to talk to Monk all alone."

Natalie grabbed Randy's arm and pulled him out of Stottlemeyer's office. Then she closed the door carefully without saying a word. Randy walked towards his desk, took off his badge and gun and throwing them on the table next to him, he sat down in his chair. Natalie approached him and patted Randy's shoulder warmly. He raised his eyes and looked at her seeming quite upset.

"He doesn't take me seriously" Randy said.

Natalie moved some papers out of her way and sat down on Disher's table. "Well, Randy, I have to admit that sometimes it's very difficult to deal with you. You're always so… mmmmm… original, that you make yourself hard to understand. But I can tell Captain Stottlemeyer is very fond of you. He considers you a good friend, you know that."

Randy smiled shyly and that made Natalie realise that she was always comforting people. That was one of the jobs Mr. Monk paid her for, of course, but she would have also done that specific task without receiving any money, as she had done for Randy. '_Two of two in less than one hour_' she thought. '_I'm really good at this_'

"Were you talking about Sharona's return, Randy?" Natalie asked suddenly.

"Exactly. I don't get it. How does she dare to come back after five years? She deserted!"

"Come on, Randy. This isn't the army!"

Randy Disher didn't need to be very puzzled to express himself that way, but Natalie thought his statement was too strong, even for him.

"This is a team and she left almost without saying goodbye to us."

Hearing Randy's words Natalie felt as if she were a stranger in that wonderful group he was talking about.

"And then we got you for the team. A very good change, if you ask me" Randy went on defiantly without looking at her. But these new words were enough to draw a little smile on Natalie's face and she sighed with relief. She knew Randy was hurt and maybe he was saying those things in order to get Sharona out of his head but they were nice, anyway.

"Did you love her?"

"What!?" he said staring at Natalie as if it were the first time he saw her. "No. Of course not! We were just… friends."

"Friends? Have you ever talked to her since she left?" asked Natalie beginning to feel quite wicked.

"Well, yes, of course" Disher answered blushing noticeably.

"How often do you speak to each other? Does she usually phone you?"

"It's none of your business"

Saying this, Randy spun around on his swivel chair so that he could break eye contact with Natalie. She leaned forward to get closer to him and smiling wickedly she pushed her forefinger against Disher's arm.

"Come on, Randy. Confess… She doesn't…"

Natalie knew perfectly that behind his handsome and masculine muscles, the badge and his elegant suit, Randy was still quite childish and it was very easy for her to provoke him. Randy turned round to look at Natalie right in the face. She adopted her most angelical expression before he said "I've talked to her, Natalie. Do you remember when we thought Monk was dead? She phoned me, I told you then." Randy seemed to get lost in his thoughts for a while. "Well, actually it was me who phoned…" Then, realising Natalie was still there looking at him with great amusement, he said very quickly "Forget the last part!"

Suddenly Natalie burst out laughing causing Randy feel quite embarrassed, but after a few moments, he joined her. Wiping her joyful tears away, Natalie put her hand on Randy's shoulder and looked back to check if she could get anything from Mr. Monk and the Captain's conversation through the glass. Monk was out of sight, so Natalie supposed he had taken a seat on Stottlemeyer's couch. She could see the Captain moving his lips, but she wasn't able to figure out what he was saying to her boss. Suddenly she saw Stottlemeyer standing up and pointing to something which was behind Randy and her, and the door of his office opened allowing Natalie to catch a glance of Monk's curly hair before she turned around. But when she was about to discover what the Captain had pointed at, she felt a tight grip on her right wrist which pulled her up, then a strong arm was put around her waist and the next thing she knew was that Randy Disher was kissing her passionately full on the lips.

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_Hi! Thanks for __your reviews of the first chapter! They're great! You're so kind… :) _

_I won't be upset if you__ correct me, so if you find any orthographical or grammatical mistake, you can tell! It will be welcome, for sure._

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Quite awesome, wasn't it?_


	3. Chapter 3: The unexpected visitor

**Chapter 3: The unexpected visitor**

Randy's action was totally unforeseen and Natalie was unable to understand it. She didn't move at the beginning so stunned she was by Randy's eagerness. He had started to kiss her so suddenly and with such an amount of violence that Natalie could only stay still in his arms. But after a while, Randy released a bit the pressure he was doing on Natalie and the kiss became soft, even pleasant. Until that moment she hadn't kissed him back but she started to do it then. Natalie closed her eyes without thinking too much about the strange moment they were sharing and she surrendered to blind delight.

Neither Natalie nor Randy could hear the interjections which had burst out from Stottlemeyer and Monk's mouths when they had seen the Lieutenant pulling Natalie towards him. Monk was absolutely astonished watching them involved in such a passionate affair. As far as Stottlemeyer was concerned, he had raised his eyebrows and had opened his mouth so wide that he thought he could never close it again. They both were rooted to the spot looking at the couple, unable to foresee the end of the kiss. Stottlemeyer started to mumble something like "Don't do anything stupid, Randy…" which Monk didn't understand. Their amazement grew even more when they saw Randy putting his hand behind Natalie's head not to let her go.

"Oh, God. It's enough" said a well-known voice from the hall door.

It was heard by Natalie and Randy and they broke apart with their eyes still closed and without breathing. Then they looked at each other as if anything else existed in the world. Finally they blinked and looked around visibly blushing, because they had just realised what they had done in front of so many people. Natalie coughed slightly and looked at puzzled Monk with a little smile on her mouth. Randy stayed on his feet rubbing his forehead until the well-known voice sounded again with a characteristic mocking tone:

"Wow, Lieutenant. You haven't changed at all."

Randy raised his eyes to meet Sharona's. She was waiting on the door threshold, wearing a shirt of yellow stripes and a short and tight skirt, as always. She looked like the three men remembered her, maybe a little sadder than five years ago. When Natalie noticed her, she suddenly understood Randy's kiss. It came absolutely clear to her: Randy wanted to be seen by Sharona as a paired man; he was willing to show her that he had got over her departure without any problem. But the kiss had seemed so real, at least at the end… Natalie shook her head to forget these thoughts and observed Sharona carefully and she was unable to explain to herself the way she had managed to persuade Monk to let her work for him in such an un-Monkish uniform. '_She is a character, no doubt_' Natalie thought still very confused by what had happened. She didn't know what to feel like about Sharona's return and about her friends' reactions on the matter. She felt like a stranger again, as if she were interrupting something. Natalie turned back to catch a glimpse of Mr. Monk's face. It seemed that he was going to collapse at any moment. '_He's having a very very tough morning. He must be looking forward to touching all the lamps here_'.

Biting her lip she plucked up courage, stood up and stepped forward to introduce herself to the newly-arrived woman, but she hadn't got the chance.

"Of course, you must be Natalie Teeger, the new Lois Lane. It's really nice to meet you, girl. How are you doing together?" Sharona asked.

She was feeling quite uncomfortable, Natalie could tell, but she was trying to sound casual and cheerful despite the tension in the air. The-new-Lois-Lane blamed Randy for his action because she was sure it had added even some more embarrassment to a situation that they knew it was going to be awkward by itself. But there it was Captain Leland Stottlemeyer to show a presence of mind that none of the others was able to exhibit then.

"Welcome back, Sharona. You look great" the Captain said walking towards her to shake her hand. The woman thanked this action giving him a bright smile. "How's your family? I imagine Benjy must be a young little man now, huh?"

"Yes, Captain. Actually, he turned 18 a few weeks ago."

"Wow, then he's the same age as Julie!" he commented sounding too much happy. "Oh, Julie's Natalie's daughter" he added noticing Sharona's confused expression.

It was clear that poor Stottlemeyer was trying to ease the air tension. Natalie decided to follow his attempt and went on being kind to Sharona and started to ask some questions about Benjy and New Jersey. Neither Randy nor Monk stepped forward to say hello: Randy's face was a mixture of emotions so Natalie thought he wasn't sure about what to do next, and Mr. Monk was still rooted to the spot, as if he had become a granite statue. While Sharona and Stottlemeyer were sharing some nice words on several subjects from the past Natalie approached Adrian Monk and took his arm gently.

"Are you okay, Mr. Monk? You're quite pale."

Monk nodded slightly and touched his eyebrow with the forefinger of his free arm. Natalie wasn't sure about what Monk was thinking about her kissing Randy, but it couldn't be good, for sure. She rubbed his shoulder to transmit him some confidence at the same moment that Sharona reached them. Natalie was going to move away to let her and Monk alone, but his arm stiffened up suddenly before she could release her grab on it and he had her caught right besides him.

"Adrian" called Sharona looking shy. "H-How are you?"

Monk didn't answer but stared at her deeply with his hazel eyes. Natalie felt very embarrassed because she didn't want to be there; she could read the sorrow in her boss's pupils and that always made her feel sorry for him. Stottlemeyer and Randy were watching the odd scene from the distance.

"Adrian, listen to me", Sharona went on talking after a deep breath. "I don't know what you're thinking about me, but I'm sure you're right. Maybe now it's too late for this, but I really want to ask for your forgiveness. I'm very very sorry for the way I did things five years ago. There's no excuse, I know, so you can go on loathing me forever if you want. But I need your help now. You are the best detective I have ever known and I'm sure you're the only one who can help me in this delicate situation I'm living. Please, I'm begging you, Adrian."

Monk hadn't moved during Sharona's emotive speech so he didn't broke eye contact with her. He was gazing at her so intensely that Natalie thought he was trying to read her mind. After a few moments of uncertainty, he glanced at Natalie with an indefinite expression in his face and finally opened his mouth looking back at Sharona again:

"I don't hate you at all. Of course I will help you. And asking your first question, I'm fine."

Sharona smiled incredibly relieved and squeezed Monk's free arm. He shrugged his shoulders and nodded as if he were assenting to a tacit agreement.

"Well, Sharona, tell us the whole story so we can help you", called Captain Stottlemeyer to avoid more unexpected reactions or feelings demonstrations.

"Okay, let me see. Two weeks ago, Benjy, Trevor and I went to visit my uncle Mike in Oakland. The last time he had seen Benjy he was 12 so my uncle was very impressed with my son's development, and he became really fond of him when he heard him speaking about his projects. Benjy told him that he wanted to go to university to study Law and you know, my uncle was a lawyer… When he died, we discovered he had changed his will after our visit and that he had left everything to us to afford Benjy's expenses. It was a great and sad surprise for us! We didn't expect that! We never talked about money with him."

Sharona breathed heavily, nearly sobbing, but she kept he tears back and went on.

"After our visit Trevor went back to New Jersey because he had to work, but Benjy and I stayed at Gail's for a week because it was so long we hadn't seen her either. Gail's my sister. She lives here in San Francisco", added looking in Natalie's direction. "Being there we were told Uncle Mike was dead. At first they thought it had been a heart attack, but the autopsy revealed that he died after taking some pills. I've been accused because he was allergic to aspirins, and as long as I'm a nurse, they said I had to know the effect they would have on him! Nobody knows he died because of the aspirins. That's classified information but I've been told because police interrogated me very hard and they asked where I had got the aspirins… Everybody can buy them anywhere, it's not big deal!"

"Don't you have an alibi?" asked Stottlemeyer.

"No, I don't. My sister had a whole day rehearsal and Benjy had dated some friends from his old school to have lunch, so I stayed at home completely alone when my uncle was being killed! I can't prove I wasn't in Oakland that afternoon" answered Sharona very sad.

"So you had a heavy reason and you don't have an alibi", stated Monk.

"Exactly. This looks really bad for me. The worst thing is that they're convinced I'm guilty, so they're just looking for some evidence to imprison me! What can I do?"

Natalie left Monk's side and approached Sharona to rest a hand on her shoulder.

"Did your uncle have any enemies?" was Randy's first sentence. He had becoming more and more interested in the case and it seemed he had forgotten his possible resentment towards Sharona and all the stuff about having kissed Natalie.

"I-I'm not sure, but he was a kind man with a lot of money. And he was truly generous. I can hardly see anyone loathing him…"

"What did he do the morning he died?" Stottlemeyer took part.

"Mmmm… I'm sure you could get the report that Oakland policemen wrote if you ask for it. There will be many more things that I can tell you. He went to buy some fruits to the market about 10 am. Apparently he got his shirt caught on a nail in the fruit store and it split, so he bought a T-shirt in that very market about 10:45am because he was already late to an appointment at the hairdresser's and he couldn't go back home for changing. He left the hairdressing salon at 11:30am approximately and went to his club to play poker with his old friends, as he always did on Saturdays. The receptionist told the police that Uncle Mike had left about 1pm. And no-one else saw him until the guy next door, who had an appointment with him to go fishing, discovered his body on the floor through the dinning room window at 4:30pm" finished Sharona with a painful sigh.

The five people around Randy's table sank into a deep silence until Adrian Monk cleared his throat and asked:

"May we go to Oakland to take a look at the crime scene?"

"My uncle was a catholic, so tomorrow they're going to celebrate a mass at 10am at the local church to honour his memory, because tomorrow marks a week after everything happened. Maybe you could go there with me to study people, Adrian, and then we could go into his apartment, if you think it could be of any help to you."

Adrian Monk looked at Natalie then and he said:

"Is it okay for you?"

Astonished by his boss's consideration towards her, she answered "Yes, it is. We'll be in Oakland at 10am", and she smiled softly to him.

***

After doing the washing up Natalie and Julie sat down in the sofa to relax a little before going to bed. They shared very few moments during the week and the two ladies loved being together at the end of the day. Julie switched on the TV, she curled up besides Natalie and rested her head on her mother's shoulder. Natalie had been totally absent-minded during dinner time thinking about all the stuff that had happened in the morning, especially about Randy's kiss. She now was looking at the TV without seeing anything, nor even listening. After a while, Julie turned down the volume and asked:

"Mom, you've been very quiet at dinner. Is Mr. Monk okay?"

Natalie took Julie's hand in hers and rubbed it with her thumb.

"Yes, he is, but it's been a hard day for all of us. You know? Sharona is back in San Francisco."

Julie raised her head and stared at her mother very amazed. "Sharona? Mr. Monk's ex-nurse? The one who left?"

"Yes, the one and only", asked Natalie with a sigh.

"Wow, who would have said…" commented Julie curling up again. "Are you alright?"

Natalie remained silent for a few seconds and then answered "Yes, sweetie, don't worry. It's just that… well, it's quite difficult to deal with this situation because I don't have only to try to understand Sharona's relationship with my friends or to take care of Mr. Monk as I always do, but also foresee his and Randy's reactions if I don't want to feel confused or embarrassed in front of Sharona."

"What does Lieutenant Disher have to do with this?"

"It's a long story, but you know the way he acts when he's under pressure and he is now definitely. He's unpredictable!"

Julie laughed and Natalie was glad that her daughter couldn't figure out the real meaning of her words.

Suddenly, there were three knocks on the front door. The two ladies gave to each other a quizzical gaze. Natalie took a look at her watch. It was 11:50pm. Then she looked back again at her daughter and stood up to check who was knocking so late. Julie craned her neck to be able to see the night visitor as Natalie reached the hall tiptoeing because of the coldness of the floor. Tying her cardigan to protect herself from the outside breeze she turned the handle and opened the door into the chilly night. At the very moment Natalie did this, she had a shiver and uttered a stifled exclamation.

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_I hope you don't complain about this chapter. It took me very very very long but I think it's worth reading! Thanks for your reviews!_


	4. Chapter 4: The unexpected interruption

**Chapter 4: The unexpected interruption**

"Randy!"

Lieutenant Disher was standing on the threshold.

"What are you doing here? Come in…"

"No thanks, Natalie. I just wanted to-" Randy started but he was interrupted by Natalie.

"It's cold outside. Come in."

Randy hesitated for a moment or two and finally stepped forward to enter the house as Natalie opened the door completely to let him in.

"Hi, Lieutenant! How are you?" Julie asked from the sofa she had been sharing with her mother.

"Oh, Julie, hello. I didn't know you were here. Maybe I should come back sometime else" Disher added looking at Natalie.

There was something in Randy's expression which told Julie she must go away.

"Don't worry, I was just leaving" she said quickly and stood up after switching off the TV. "I-I must go to… to study! Yes… because… mmm… I-I have an exam tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is Saturday" indicated Randy quite suspicious.

"Awesome, isn't it?" Julie answered, hands up.

"Well, yes… Good luck."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Good night, Mom. Enjooooy."

Julie gave her mother a surprised and mocking look which was unnoticed by Randy and disappeared upstairs, leaving Natalie and her visitor alone in the half-lit living room.

"I'm sorry, Natalie. It wasn't my intention to throw Julie out. I didn't know she was here" Randy apologized.

"You've managed to send her to bed. Don't blame yourself. She's growing up fast and it's pretty difficult to deal with her. Time to go to sleep brings daily fights to our house…"

'_Poor Julie_', Natalie thought biting her lip. Her daughter was now a young little woman whose behaviour matched her age but Natalie was throwing on her some stupid teenage manners only to relieve Randy. '_You're talking too much, Natalie Teeger. Shut up at once_.'

Randy gave her a quick smile but he said nothing. There was a short embarrassing silence between them until Natalie decided to break it.

"Fancy a drink? I have some beers in the fridge."

"Oh, yeah. Good idea" Randy agreed rubbing his hands together.

"Take a seat. I'll be back in a minute."

Then Natalie disappeared to the kitchen and headed to the fridge in order to pick up two cold beers from it. When she found them, she closed the fridge door, sighed to encourage herself and stepped into the living room to face Randy. He had chosen a chair around the wooden table Julie and Natalie used to eat at, and was seated there tapping on it.

"Thanks" he said opening the bottle Natalie had handed to him.

"Cheers" she answered sitting down in another chair near Randy.

They both raised their bottles and took a very long sip before putting their beers down without looking at each other. Then Randy cleared his throat and said:

"Natalie, I think you know why I'm here. I-I want to… well, to apologize for what happened this morning. You know… don't you? I don't know what I was thinking of! I didn't plan to kiss you… Well, I don't mean you're not special to me, because you are! Y-You know… I could have kissed, mmm, the Captain instead! Even Monk, but I kissed you, of course, because you are… well…" stuttered Randy. His cheeks and forehead had become so red that Natalie couldn't help smiling slightly. Randy was a cute guy when he made those demonstrations of immaturity. Natalie looked at him deeply, trying to discover the truth behind his words. Maybe he hadn't been able to forget Sharona and he was still in love with her, or maybe he had got over that matter but he was feeling unsure and confused about everything. Natalie usually had those feelings because of other reasons, and she knew how lost one person could be so she identified with Randy a little. There were some similar issues which were worrying Natalie since a long time ago, but she didn't want to admit it so she shook her head to get her thoughts out of her mind and leaned in to kiss Randy in the lips.

He didn't expect her reaction but he kissed her back very softly. It was like if they wanted to think no longer about their lives. Natalie would have sworn that very morning that she didn't love Randy, even now she wasn't sure about why she was doing what she was doing, but this was the second time she found some relief in kissing her friend. They stood up still kissing each other more and more passionately. Natalie could hardly breathe because Randy was holding her so closely. Their lips met over and over again in the semidarkness of the living room. She was able to step aside from him for a short time and she said with her eyes closed:

"Would you like to come upstairs?"

Randy looked at her a bit puzzled at first but he nodded in agreement and started to kiss her deeply again while they tried to go upstairs.

Once in Natalie's bedroom and without stopping their kissage she started to unbutton Randy's jacket while he untied her cardigan. The clothes fell down to the floor as they approached the bed in each other's arms.

'_Poor Mr. Monk would kill us if he knew this_' Natalie thought and suddenly she stopped halfway to unbutton Randy's shirt. '_Poor Mr. Monk…_'

"I can't do this" she said with a low voice putting her hands on Randy's bare chest.

"What?"

"Oh, God… Randy, please forgive me" she went on.

"What is it? Are you okay? You look pale, Natalie" Disher said panting heavily and still holding her.

She sighed twice because she didn't know what to say. She felt guilty for having pushed Randy into passion again but she wasn't able to finish what they had started. He was waiting for an answer and he hadn't let Natalie go so she rested her head on her friend's chest and sighed again. Randy was extremely confused but he felt Natalie needed some comfort and he resolved to hug her tight. They remained this way for a couple of minutes: Natalie was very still in Randy's arms as he rocked her gently rubbing her head. Then Randy leaded Natalie to the bed and they sat down together without making the slightest sound for a while. When she managed to calm down a little, Natalie looked at her friend and spoke serenely:

"Maybe this is going to sound quite strange to you, Randy, but I really really like you. The problem is-"

"-that you don't love me. And the big problem is that you love someone else."

Natalie stared at Disher in surprise after hearing his last sentence. "Do I?"

"Well, I think so. And I'm sure that we both know who he is, actually" he said without smiling.

Natalie had some doubts about the meaning of Randy's words so she hurried to say "Are you angry with me, Randy?"

"What? Of course not!" he shouted opening his naive eyes a lot. "You've done to me exactly the same I did to you this morning, so all our debts are paid. I know you all always say that I'm childish, but you've just acted like me this time, Natalie! Hahaha. There is a little difference between us, anyway: I don't love Sharona, in spite of what you may be thinking. I got over that some years ago but wounds always reopen a little if love was great."

This was the first time Natalie heard such an amount of wise and deep words coming out of Randy's mouth. '_He is a full-grown man, after all_' she thought.

"But your case is more problematic, I guess" Randy went on. "You know it's impossible, don't you? I thought that word didn't exist in my vocabulary, by the way, but there it is… Natalie, you have probably chosen one of the most inaccessible people in the world."

"I didn't choose anything, Randy. You know how these things work: it burst in some day that I don't remember, and I realised the feeling was there just another day and I couldn't help falling in love" alleged Natalie looking very calm.

"Have you been feeling this way for a long time?"

Natalie remained silent for a moment or two thinking about Randy's question and the best way to answer it. Finally she said: "Well, I'm sure I had been feeling it for some time before I realised that I was in love… but I've counted one year and ten months since the moment I knew this feeling was unbeatable. I have lived some periods of relief during this time and I have even got to think that I was no longer in love. But it has always shown up again sooner or later."

Randy let a whistle come out of his lips. "And how's it going?"

"I simply try to deal with it. I'm resigned now because I know I can do nothing to change things so I can handle most of the situations we go trough daily. But it becomes more difficult when I'm under pressure or when I feel nervous. I lost all my defences, Randy, and I'm sure you know what that means: I have to concentrate hardly to avoid doing anything stupid."

"You do it pretty well, indeed. There are some actions which gave you away, but only if you're watched by suspicious and alert eyes like mine ones." He smiled to add a spoonful of sugar to their conversation. "You're a very strong woman, Natalie, and I admire you for that."

"Thank you…" she whispered putting her arms around Randy's neck and resting her head on his shoulder "… for everything."

"Oh, you're welcome. This is what friends do. And I could do even more… If you don't manage to capture your "Prince of darkness's" heart, try it again with mine if you want. Feel free to take advantage of me whenever you need. Maybe we could restart where we left it…" he said tickling Natalie's side.

Natalie gave him a pretended reproaching look and kissed his cheek gently.

"May I ask one favour from you, Randy?"

"Of course. Shoot."

"Could you stay tonight? Why don't you sleep here?"

Randy laughed sincerely and he kissed Natalie's forehead before pulling her to bed, where they fell asleep hugging each other with their feelings absolutely clear.

***

It was 3:30am. Natalie and Randy had already been sleeping for a while by this time. But there was a person about one or two miles away who was unable to sleep. He was seated in a chair and had his chin rested on his hands. His silhouette stood out against the weak light that entered by the kitchen window. His grave hazel eyes were looking inexpressively at the front wall without seeing anything. He was just thinking, a task he was used to do but it was exceptionally unusual to be thinking at 3:30am, even for him. There was one thought that was making him miserable that night and he knew it despite of the fact that he didn't want to admit it at first. However he had no choice but face the problem when he had already polished every light bulb in the house, vacuumed his carpets and washed the dishes twice. An image was constantly showing up inside his mind, before his eyes, and it was absolutely necessary to throw it out if he wanted to be able to go to bed and take some rest.

What had he felt in the morning? Rage, anger, pain, surprise… jealousy, maybe?

'_All of them, no doubt_' he thought. He was shocked by his answer to that question because he didn't expect it at all. He felt scared, confused, envious! The worst thing was that he couldn't even tell why. There was something before his eyes that he wasn't being able to see; he knew that there was something growing under his skin that he wasn't managing to identify. '_My pulse rushed, my heart beat fast… Perhaps I'm ill. It was cold this morning… Mmm, not possible… I was wearing my coat the whole day because Natalie…_' his heart skipped a beat then '_… told me to take it_."

He stopped for a moment or two and then went on, lost in his thoughts. '_I think I'm getting closer! Okay. Sharona is back, so I'm quite upset. Mmmm, not possible… I managed to get over it when she asked for my forgiveness, so that isn't the problem… It was pretty hard to deal with her absence, of course, but if she hadn't left I would have never met Natalie…_'

His heart skipped another beat. Then he touched the left side of his chest very slowly with his eyes wide open. '_Natalie…_' another missing beat. '_Oh, my God… Oh, my God… Oh, my God… Oh, my God… Oh, my God!_'

He started to panic so he didn't remove his hand from his chest in order to try to stop the furious beating of his heart. He stood up and started to wander until he resolved to approach his couch and he almost collapsed there.

"Stop this, please… Stop…" he whispered almost crying but his heart went on reeling. He felt even more miserable than before because he considered he was living one of the worst moments of his live. '_Tru-Trudy… Oh, my God… Truth hurts…_' he thought through his delirium.

He needed at least two more hours to calm down a little, make up his mind and go to bed. Of course, he wasn't able to sleep at all.

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_Well, here it is the fourth chapter! I'm sorry again about my mistakes, I swear to you I'm doing my best…__ This is very long!_

_To those who were willing for a Monk/Natalie story, you're lucky! Sorry about the whole Natalie/Randy thing but I wanted to put them together for a short time for being able to picture them as a couple. I like them, hehe, but I think I prefer Natalie and Monk better._

_I hope you enjoy the chapter. I think the best moments are to arrive. Please, review! I really like your comments. :)_


	5. Chapter 5: Unexpected gestures

**Chapter 5: Unexpected gestures**

The alarm clock rang at 7.30am and it found Natalie peacefully asleep in Randy's arms. At first, she was shocked when she woke up but she soon remembered what had happened the night before, so she calmed down. Randy opened his eyes and muttered something like "Good morning" and yawned widely almost showing his whole throat. Natalie pinched his left cheek lovingly with her eyes still half closed. Finally, she resolved to get up and she disappeared to the toilet to get washed and dressed leaving Randy lying curled up on her bed.

When Natalie went downstairs to have breakfast, Randy was already there in his shirt with some gingerbread cookies in his hands, so Natalie couldn't help chuckling.

"What?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"This reminds me of-"

"Oooooh, okay, I know. Don't tell me! The voodoo thing. Very funny…" Randy said nostalgic and he went on eating gingerbread cookies' heads.

Tension had faded away between them during the night, so they were feeling so relieved that they spent breakfast time joking and talking about trivial things. Once Randy had finished his cup of coffee, he went upstairs to pick up his belongings and five minutes later he was saying goodbye to Natalie.

"Captain Stottlemeyer's waiting for me at the police station. We all are supposed to attend Uncle Mike's mass, remember?"

"Oh, right. I'll go to pick up Mr. Monk in a minute." Natalie said drinking all the milk in her cup in only one sip.

Randy smiled innocently as he put on his jacket and asked: "Why don't you start calling him Adrian or simply Monk?"

Then he winked at her, ran across the living room waving his right hand in the air and slammed Natalie's front door after leaving.

"Thank you!" she shouted hoping that Randy could hear her.

The woman shook her head as she stood up to do the washing up. She was quite happy for having spoken the truth at last. She was sure that Randy had understood her because he had shown a very understanding skill she had never thought he had, but there was a little doubt wandering inside her head, anyway: would he be able to stay on the sidelines? Natalie knew Randy too well to imagine a couple of things (even more) he would like to try to "help" her. A shiver ran down her spine and she stopped half washing Randy's cup. '_Oh, my God_…' She sighed closing her eyes and tried not to think about it.

Natalie dried her hands and wrote a note to Julie because she was still sleeping and her mother didn't want to disturb her. Then she went upstairs to make the bed but she discovered that it was still made, so she grabbed her bag muttering some grateful words to an invisible Randy, she ran back downstairs and picked up her black coat and scarf.

It was going to be a long cold day.

***

When the front door opened allowing Natalie to enter his house, Adrian Monk was seated very still on his couch with his hands on his knees. He had already finished doing the cleaning one hour ago so he resolved to sit with his brown coat by his side since he had nothing else to do until the fatal moment came. And there it was at last. He heard Natalie's heels resounding in the corridor and, as if it were a response to them, his heart started to beat with too much strength against his chest.

"Mr. Monk, it's me. Let's go!" she said happily sticking her head in the living room.

Monk didn't answer and he remained motionless exactly where he was. He didn't dare to look at her because he knew she was so lovely in dark clothes that he feared his heart would start hammering without control at the slightest look.

"Mr. Monk, come on! You won't want to be late. I think it's important to reach the church as soon as possible so you can have a look at people before being able to talk to them." She had approached him and had put a hand on his shoulder by then. He trembled when Natalie touched him and he moved away from her slightly. "Mr. Monk? What's up now? Wow, you look really tired!" she exclaimed trying to put her hand on his forehead but he prevented her to do it by standing up quickly.

"I'm fine." He said with a very rough voice. "Let's go."

He put on his brown coat and headed to the front door leaving Natalie behind with a concerned expression in her eyes. Before she had been able to move again she heard the front door as Monk opened it and a statement which rooted her to the spot even more came also to her ears:

"You smell of Randy Disher. I'm good at smells."

When she managed to close her mouth and resolved to step into the corridor, Adrian Monk had disappeared downstairs leaving the front door open. '_Unfortunately, you're good at everything_' she thought hurrying after her boss and feeling very embarrassed.

***

It was the worst journey ever. Natalie was making a great effort to remember any similar trip they might have had during their five years working together but she couldn't find any other example. At first, she had thought of the one from her best friend's wedding, when she had got angry at her boss for having ruined her time there. But there was no possible comparison. She had felt annoyed then, and the air in the car could have been cut with a thick knife, but this time Natalie was feeling so uncomfortable that she was tempted to get off the car and run far far away. Monk was absolutely immobile, like a frozen statue, looking straight ahead with glassy eyes and pursed mouth. His skin shone very pale under the greyish November sky and there were also awful rings under his eyes. It was clear to Natalie that something was worrying Monk, but what she wasn't able to understand was that her boss was acting as if she had done something terrible to him. She tried to start a conversation several times during the journey; however, she got nothing else than some monosyllabic expressions from him so she felt highly relieved when they arrived at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Oakland forty minutes after they had got in the car.

The church was in the shore of a wonderful and huge lake which reflected the grey clouds from the sky in its surface. Natalie was left completely speechless by the beauty she was contemplating. As far as Monk was concerned, he got off the car and he didn't even look at the lake, so Natalie hurried to follow him until they reached the façade of the white church.

Captain Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher were already there. Randy winked at Natalie when she approached them, but since he saw her anxious expression he resolved to keep still. Despite the speed of Randy's gesture it didn't go unnoticed to two avid and reddish eyes. Then Monk walked slowly towards Disher until he was right in front of him, almost nose to nose. Randy blinked rapidly stepping a little backwards but Monk didn't move. He only bent his neck to his right side and stared intensely at Randy's eyes. Stottlemeyer frowned in Natalie's direction but she shrugged her shoulders as an answer. As Monk didn't seem to want to stop examining Disher's depths through his eyes, Stottlemeyer spoke out loud:

"Hey, Monk, what are you looking for? You won't find anything interesting inside that head."

Far from smiling, Adrian Monk glanced at the Captain with a twisted look and then he moved away from Randy, who didn't know if he should feel confused by Monk's attitude or annoyed by Stottlemeyer's comment. Natalie followed Monk with a apologizing look to the Captain and Randy and tried to put a hand on her boss's shoulder as she used to do when Monk was feeling bad. But to everyone's astonishment, he twisted his back violently to avoid her touch and went on walking to the lakeshore. Natalie was left behind with her hand raised in the air and she felt stupid. Some tears struggled to fall down from her blue eyes but after two sighs she managed to control them and then crossed her arms over her chest. She heard several running footsteps behind her before feeling a friendly hand pat her shoulder when Stottlemeyer and Randy reached her. The first one didn't stop but drove his steps towards Monk, who was bent over the back of a bench looking at the lake.

Stottlemeyer stopped by his side without saying anything. He had his hands in his pockets and looked at the lake too. Natalie and Randy watched from the distance, too far to be able to hear anything. After five minutes of silent contemplation Monk changed his position to a cross-armed one. Then he also put his hands in his pockets and after ten seconds he changed again. Stottlemeyer didn't move but looked at him with an expression of self-satisfaction. Monk looked back at him with his most sorrowful eyes and said pathetically:

"Leland… kill me… please…"

"I would do it after having seen the way you've treated Natalie, I promise, but I'd get into trouble, so no, thanks."

"Pleeeeeeeease…" Monk said prolonging the word with a hiss.

"What is the problem with you, man?"

"Give me your gun. I'll do it."

Monk tried to reach Stottlemeyer's gun but since he didn't want to touch the Captain it turned to be a very difficult task.

"You have your own one at home. Why didn't you shoot yourself this morning if you feel so disgraceful?"

Monk didn't know what to do or what to say. He had such an emotional whirlpool inside his chest that he was sure that the only thing which would finish his suffering was dying.

"Monk, what's up? I don't understand you. Well, I never do, but I think this time is worse. Why are you behaving this way towards Natalie? Why did you stare at Randy as if he were a criminal? Why do you want me to shoot you? I thought you wanted to be reinstated, Monk! I was sure you were getting better! And now you are proving to be-"

"-in love."

A heavy silence fell over the two men. Stottlemeyer fixed his widely open eyes upon Monk without believing his ears.

"What did you say?" the Captain asked after a whole minute had passed.

Monk didn't want to repeat what he had said. Putting something into words meant that that something existed and Monk wasn't determined to admit any love interest existence. But now Stottlemeyer knew that Something too, his private Something. Monk wanted to cry and he started to sob bitterly. Captain Stottlemeyer was still impressed by his friend's two-word sentence because he had thought he would never hear it from Monk's lips again, but he responded quickly to that unforeseen situation and hugged Monk patting his back with a huge smile. Poor Adrian Monk didn't hug him back but rested his head on Stottlemeyer's shoulder pleading for wipes; however he was apparently suffering a lack of strength because Stottlemeyer didn't even hear him despite Monk was whispering in his very ear.

By then, several people in black clothes had arrived at the church. Natalie and Randy had already been joined by Sharona and a tall boy, who was smiling shyly at a surprised Randy. The four of them looked in the lake direction and saw the odd scene which was taking place between Stottlemeyer and Monk.

"Uhuh… What did you do to him?! Is he hugging the Captain?!" Sharona asked wrinkling her nose.

"Not exactly. I think it's Monk who's being hugged" Randy answered putting his right hand over his eyes to take a better look through the distance.

Although Natalie was very disappointed with Monk she had to admit that something really harmful must be happening to her boss if Stottlemeyer had felt the need to comfort him with a hug.

"Okay, forget them." Randy said looking at the big boy who was standing next to him. "You were saying, Benjy? Wow, I can't believe it's you…"

Benjy, Sharona's son, chuckled kindly and went on talking about his future projects while the three adults listened, trying to forget the two men on the lakeshore. Sharona looked very proud of her only child, Natalie could tell, and she herself grew very fond of good-natured Benjy, whose nice freckles and sparkling eyes made her feel better, although she went on glancing in the lake direction from time to time.

After twenty minutes, at 9:55am, the church bell began to toll to summon everyone outside. Monk and Stottlemeyer drove their steps towards their friends and reached them when they were already near the front door. Stottlemeyer and Randy got in first looking around, watching people carefully, trying to become familiar with their faces. When Natalie was about to go in, she caught a glance of Monk beside her. She didn't want to look at him, let alone put up with his selfish behaviour at that moment. She was sure he'd try to enter before her, so she stopped on the threshold. But Monk also stopped, staring at the floor. Then he raised his eyes to look at Natalie right into hers with a mixture of guilt and chivalry, and he waved his right hand gently to let her in first. She didn't expect his gesture so a benevolent smile was drawn in her face and she got in followed by her boss. Sharona and Benjy crossed the great doors after them, and this was the sitting disposition of the tenth row, where they six sat down together.

Now, the team was complete and ready to act at last.

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_Don't think it's going to be easy for Monk to admit that he feels something for Natalie, haha._

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter although it took me a long time to finish it. At first, I wanted to include the next chapter in this one too, but it would have been too long for you to read, maybe, so I decided to split its content into two parts._

_I'm not from the USA, so I had to investigate on the Internet to be able to calculate the approximate distances between San Francisco and Oakland, to picture the church surroundings… I've never been there!_

_I'm sorry for my mistakes again. Review, please! You make my day!_


	6. Chapter 6: The Unexpected

**Chapter 6: The Unexpected**

The church bell went on tolling until 10 o'clock. The people who were talking and waiting outside went in gradually, as Monk and his friends had already done. After his conversation with Stottlemeyer, Adrian Monk felt quite better but he hadn't decided what to do next. He wasn't sure about the way he should take; however, he had resolved to follow one of the Captain's advises: the one which was related to letting the time tell. He had reflected on the matter and there was also something clear to him, at least: he shouldn't treat Natalie the way he was doing it.

"_This isn't Natalie's fault, Monk. Don't blame her."__ Stottlemeyer had said. "You know that Love is unexpected, my friend. It also hits you like a hammer and you can do nothing to stop it. You can try to ignore it, if you think it will make you feel better, but it will hurt you painfully instead."_

"_But this isn't like the other… my other Love… I felt it the very first time I saw Trudy in the library. It was like Magic, it was as though someone had cast a spell on me. But now… I've been working along with Natalie for five years and I had never felt anything for her before!" had argued Monk helplessly._

_Stottlemeyer had burst into laughs then._

"_I've told you: Love is unexpected and mysterious. You'll never feel the same Love twice. That's why every person you come to love in your life is special: because the way you love them is unrepeatable."_

_Monk had got lost in his thoughts with his eyes closed. He had been interrogating his own heart looking for answers, but he had only come across more and more doubts._

"_But that'__s not like me, Leland! You know it."_

"_What do I know? That you're not able to admit that you are sometimes wrong? Yes, I know! But think about Doctor Kroger: you said you'll NEVER find another shrink who could help you and now you 'love' Doctor Bell. And think about Sharona: you also told me you'll NEVER be able to replace her, because there was just one Sharona in the whole world. And you've been working with Natalie for five years by now!"_

"_B-But this is different!__ I still love Trudy with all my heart. How can this be happening? Trudy IS my whole life…"_

"_Monk, since you're a human being, you are gifted with the ability of love. Of course you still love Trudy: she was your support, your friend, your wife while she was alive and she was such a wonderful woman that it would be impossible, even a crime, to forget her. But you had loved before Trudy appeared, don't you remember it? That girl from your high school…"_

"_Sherry Judd."_

"_Exactly. And you were able to love Trudy after having loved Sherry, weren't you? And now, for the first time in you life, your heart has found out something that your brain hasn't: Natalie. She's always taking care of you without minding your selfish manners or your unpaid checks. I know you haven't noticed it but she's always hugging you, Monk, and you usually allow her to do it."_

"_Do I?" Monk had asked with a confused tone. He knew that Natalie liked to hug him and although he felt quite uncomfortable when he was hugged in front of people, he didn't dislike Natalie's embraces at all._

"_Yessss, you do. So let's face it, Monk: you feel something for your dear assistant and I would dare to say that she also has some kind of feelings for you." Monk had adopted a sceptical expression then. "I know you're thinking about what happened between her and Randy in the police station, but people often confuses their feelings, so don't pay too much attention to that fact. And please, don't treat them as if they were criminals. They only kissed each other. It's not big deal and you might be hurting Natalie. Think about it."_

_Then the bell had started to toll and they had walked towards the church._

"_What should I do, Leland?" asked Monk._

"_Just be yourself. Let the time put things in__to their right place. If you don't want to take a step forward now, don't do it, but don't take it backwards either, okay? And try not to feel guilty because, you know, Love is-"_

"_-unexpected, I know. Okay, I'll try…"_

_Then Stottlemeyer had stopped suddenly and had said:_

"_One last thing: if you ever mention this conversation to anyone, especially Randy, I'll lick your face until you die of pure loathing, I swear it."_

_Monk had smiled after having promise to keep silent._

He was totally absent-minded, so he jumped a little when someone tapped on his right shoulder. A freckly young man seated beside Sharona was looking at him with a funny expression. Sharona was smiling widely at Monk but he didn't know why. Then he put two and two together and shouted:

"Oh, my God! Are you Benjy?! Oh, my God!"

Benjy chuckled, and so did Sharona, Natalie, Randy and Stottlemeyer. Monk was absolutely speechless.

"Yes, Mr. Monk, it's me. How're you doing?" the boy asked. He didn't even hold out his hand to him, because he knew Monk too well.

"But you've become a man! God, time runs fast… I've missed you, Benjy! Oh, and I did like your farewell letter a lot. It was heartbreaking; it contained some orthographical mistakes which tore me apart, you know, but…"

It came to them a sweet smell from the front row when four people occupied it. Monk and Benjy went on talking about their lives and the first one had almost forgotten his worries about his feelings for Natalie when he said to her:

"We should introduce Benjy to Julie. I think they'd make a good couple."

Benjy blushed noticeably, and Sharona and Natalie hit Monk's arm rolling their eyes. Randy burst into laughs, so this time was Stottlemeyer who hit him.

One of the women from the front row turned her face slightly to give them an admonitory look. The woman next to her, who had a very beautiful curly black hair, calmed her companion down. When she moved, she gave off the sweet smell Monk had perceived before.

"Who's that woman?" asked Natalie leaning in Sharona's direction over Monk's lap and he was also smelling Natalie's scent before he could help doing it… vanilla and coconut… and he really liked it.

"The older one is Samantha Allen, Uncle Mike's nearly mother-in-law. The black-haired woman is Barbara Allen, her daughter and Uncle Mike's girlfriend, and the man next-"

"What?" interrupted Natalie. "But she is very young! She's younger than me!"

"Yes, it was really shocking to us when we were told that they had become a couple. We couldn't believe it; my mother was absolutely taken aghast. Oh, there she is with Gail" then she raised her hand and waved at two women who were seated three rows behind to their right. Monk did the same because he also knew them. He had helped Gail in a couple of occasions in the past, indeed.

"We thought their relationship wasn't going to last, but after a couple of months we realised that they truly loved each other. She was highly caring and loving, and we had never seen Uncle Mike so happy before. Love is unexpected…" Sharona went on.

Natalie sighed in agreement and Monk snorted slightly. '_Twice in just one day_' he thought.

"As I was saying, the man next to Barbara is her brother, Donald. And the old man is Jerry Brentwood, Uncle Mike's neighbour, the one who found him dead. He's not related to the Allen family." explained Sharona without noticing her companions' reactions to her previous words.

Then, the mass began and they were forced to keep silent. But every two minutes, Sharona pointed at someone and whispered their names cautiously in Monk's ear.

"That's Uncle Hugh and the woman next to him is his wife, Aunt Eve."

"There you can see Mark, Amanda and Henry, my Cousin Helen's children. Their father Sam is always working abroad, so he couldn't come."

"Can you see the red-haired man over there? You won't like him. He's my mother's younger cousin. His name's Andrew and he's a stupid bloke."

The mass didn't last too much. When the priest finally left the altar everyone started to move at last. Monk's friends went to offer their condolences to Sharona's mother, Cheryl, who looked very sad. She thanked their presence warmly and promised to invite them to visit her family in New Jersey. Sharona suggested going out for Monk, Stottlemeyer and Randy to be able to watch people's behaviours and manners, so Benjy was forced to remain beside his grand-mother and aunt, but of course he agreed reluctantly.

They reached the front door and went out. The sun had showed up and was shinning brightly in the sky, so its light was being reflected in the lake surface as if there were millions of sparkling diamonds glittering inside. Feeling quite nervous Monk glanced at Natalie, who was walking just by his side, and at last he managed to say:

"I-It's very beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes, Mr. Monk." she answered with her eyes fixed upon the calm water. Monk didn't know what she was thinking about, but she looked quite absent-minded. Then she said "This is the perfect place."

"What for?"

"The Unexpected."

She smiled softly but she didn't even look at Monk. Then they saw the dark-haired woman who had been seated in the front row walking in their direction leaning on her handsome brother's arm. She was holding a handkerchief against her eyes and sobbed bitterly. Sharona touched Monk's arm and then she approached them tactfully. After a few seconds the three of them stepped towards the place where Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Randy were standing.

"Barbara, these are my friends: Adrian Monk, Natalie Teeger, Leland Stottlemeyer and Randall Disher." She didn't mention Stottlemeyer and Randy's ranks on purpose. "They wanted to come to show their respects to our family. This is Barbara Allen, Uncle Mike's girlfriend. And this is Donald, Barbara's brother."

They shook hands, so Natalie opened her bag to take out a wipe for her boss, but Monk didn't need it. He only touched his right eyebrow with his index finger as a greeting and avoided the shaking. The rest of Sharona's friends offered their condolences to Barbara and Donald, who accepted them with thankful and bright expressions.

"I imagine you're going through a very hard situation" said Stottlemeyer. "I've heard you didn't even see him alive the day he died…"

Barbara sobbed again against her handkerchief, so black-haired Donald Allen stroked her forearm affectionately.

"You're right. I feel so guilty… Why did we have to plane down the floor last Saturday, Donald? If only I'd been there with Mike, I could have helped him! I wish he were here now, I miss him a lot…"

Then, two transparent tears rolled over her cheeks to her salmon thick lips, so her eyes make-up ran a little leaving two greyish traces on her face. She was a very beautiful woman, Monk thought to himself, and she smelled especially well too, as he had already noticed before. When she recovered a little, she went on talking.

"… I was always telling him that he should remember to take his pills. He had suffered one heart attack before. I'm sure he mistook his heart pills with the acetilsalicilic acid ones… If I had been there, I might have averted it… Life is crap. It's so sad when you lose one of your loved ones. Something breaks inside your guts and…"

She hid her face between her hands, which were still holding the handkerchief. Natalie identified with her immediately and felt pity for the poor woman. Barbara's brother patted her back gently and gave her a wide smile to reassure his suffering sister. Suddenly Monk took out his pen from his jacket and tried to straighten Donald's shirt collar with it. Both Sharona and Natalie hit Monk's arm again as Stottlemeyer and Randy rolled their eyes.

"Forgive him, Donald. Adrian is quite… peculiar…" said Sharona looking daggers at the later. But Monk went on trying to finish his task in spite of Donald's forced expression. Then a golden chain shone around his neck.

"Wow, beautiful chain, dude!" Randy exclaimed with approval. "Where did you get that?"

"It was a present from… my colleagues. I worked for BD, -Becton, Dickinson and Company, you know, the medical suppliers-. When I finished there they gave this to me as a keepsake" and he grabbed the golden chain to show a beautiful pendant with the letters BD engraved on it.

"Congratulations. It's awesome." Randy said admiring it.

Donald Allen smiled and put the pendant back inside his shirt.

"Well, we must leave now. My sister is feeling indisposed and she needs a little rest before starting to put away Mike's belongings. The police has authorised it at last, so we will do it tomorrow if you don't mind" he said addressing to Sharona.

"T-There is no problem. I-I would like to get there to… to say goodbye to everything, you know. It's being hard for his relatives too."

It was clear that Sharona felt nervous. That could be her last chance to demonstrate her innocence to the police.

"Of course, darling. It's been a pleasure to know you. Sharona's friends are our friends. Thanks for coming. Mike would have been very happy to have you all here." said Barbara smiling shyly. Donald Allen waved at them and he took his sister by the arm and drove her to an impressive black car.

"I don't like the brother" Stottlemeyer said. "Did you hear that? He worked for BD, the medical suppliers! It could have been easy for him to get some pills to kill your uncle, Sharona."

"But you can find aspirins anywhere. You don't need to be related to the medical world for it…"

They sunk in a thoughtful stillness watching around carefully. Then Monk's voice broke the silence.

"She did it."

Four pairs of eyes looked at him utterly startled. Monk had a grave expression on his face and they knew that the most brilliant detective of the world didn't know how to joke, so he must be being serious.

"I still don't know how she did it, but she did it."

Natalie smiled highly pleased and, feeling very proud of her boss, Adrian Monk, she took him by the arm and walked beside him to the car park to let the action begin.

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_Here you have the sixth chapter! I imagine you've enjoyed Monk and Stottlemeyer's conversation. I think __you will find some beautiful ideas about Love in it (don't think I'm being immodest, because I'm not, haha)._

_I told you I wasn't a great mystery stories writer, so maybe you're going to find the case too simple…__ I know you're used to solve cases with a higher level of difficulty._

_Sorry about the mistakes again. ;)_

_And THANKS for the wonderful reviews you're giving to me!!_


	7. Chapter 7: The unexpected attack

**Chapter 7: The unexpected**** attack**

Fifteen minutes later, the five friends were standing in front of Uncle Mike's white wooden fence. Randy opened a folder he had in his hands and read some information aloud for the others to hear it.

"Okay… He was lying on the dinning-room ground. All the windows in the low floor were open, and so were his eyes and mouth as well. No signs of fight. Here you have the pictures" said Lt. Disher before handing them to Monk.

The poor old man, whose thin hair was already grey, could be seen looking very pale. He was wearing a brown T-shirt -'_this must be the one he bought that very morning_', Monk thought-, and a pair of black trousers. There was no blood around him.

"Was he colour-blind?" asked Natalie looking at the pictures.

"Mmm, I'm not sure but I don't think so. He worked as a painter in his late teens before becoming a lawyer. It would have been a handicap for him… Why did you ask?" Sharona answered.

"I don't want to sound superficial, but brown doesn't match with black."

"C'mon, Natalie, he bought that T-shirt in a hurry. I don't think he was interested in matching colours then…" assured Stottlemeyer. "We have more important things to think about."

Natalie blushed as the Captain took the pictures from Monk's hands to put them back inside the brown folder. Monk looked at her and tried to give her a smile but he only managed to wince. Then Sharona started to walk towards the front door followed by the others. Once inside the house, they went straight ahead to the dinning room. It had been decorated with a refined taste. Monk liked specially two ancient armchairs which were right next to the window. He started to do the 'hands thing' immediately, as Natalie always called his strange way of concentrating, walking slowly. His fellows stared at him quite anxious, waiting for some kind of statement which could solve the crime. Sharona was looking around with her eyes semi-closed, as though she was trying to remember something.

"I still think the brother isn't clean at all", said Stottlemeyer to break the silence around them.

"He isn't Barbara's brother" said Monk quickly without taking his eyes off his moving fingers.

"Of course he is, Adrian. What are you talking about?" asked Sharona taken aback. She had left her remembering task to look at him in surprise.

"I'm saying Donald isn't your late uncle's girlfriend's brother. They're married, actually" he went on. Natalie, Randy, Stottlemeyer and Sharona were rooted to the spot. "I thought they were just sexual lovers when I saw the salmon stain on his shirt collar, the same peculiar colour of the lipstick Barbara was wearing, but then he showed his pendant to us, and I notice the letters B and D on it… and a date engraved on the back along with two intertwined rings."

"So… so, well, I was right, he isn't clean" said Stottlemeyer still startled. "Why couldn't he be the guy?"

"He could be, but she is" assured Monk. "They're accomplices, no doubt, but I'm sure she did it." After a pause that he used to think rubbing his forehead, he went on "I remember she mentioned some acetilsalicilic acid pills when she was talking about your uncle's death, Sharona. And I know you told us that nobody was familiar with the real cause of his death, right? Why did she know about the aspirins he had taken? It seems that he wasn't senile and he knew perfectly that he was allergic to aspirins. I'm sure he took those pills neither on purpose nor by mistake. She did it."

Natalie smiled seeing her boss's certainty. Monk intertwined his fingers and looked at her; then he nodded in appreciation. Suddenly, Sharona uttered an exclamation which caught everyone's attention.

"I get it! I've been thinking there was something wrong here since the very moment we came in… There's a carpet missing! Where's the carpet? My uncle loved it!"

"Was there a carpet in this room?" asked Randy raising his feet alternatively as though he could find it under them.

"Yes, right where we are standing. It was here two weeks ago when I came to visit Uncle Mike with Benjy and Trevor."

"Maybe he put it away last week" Natalie suggested.

Sharona looked at her with a concentrated expression and then she disappeared to the hall to search for the carpet inside every wardrobe in the house.

"Sharona, may we have a look at the rest of the house?" shouted Monk in order to be heard by the woman.

"Of course" her voice came quite muffled from the upper floor.

And that was exactly the way Monk chose to follow. He went upstairs and walked along the corridor until he found Uncle Mike's bedroom. Natalie, Randy and Stottlemeyer were close behind him. The door was half-closed, so Monk opened it without touching the wood with his bare fingers to let them in. His friends looked around to grow familiar with everything in the room. Natalie even raised the window a little because it was very hot in there although it was November. But Monk went directly to the old wooden wardrobe and opened it using his handkerchief. Then he smiled. Each Uncle Mike's shirt and T-shirt were put inside plastic bags and from the depths of the closet a light smell came out. It was a mixture of man and woman fragrances. He immediately recognised the feminine one and smiled again. And always under his three friend's watchful and surprised eyes, Monk started to smell every plastic bag containing a shirt or T-shirt until he stopped when he came across a red one. He removed the plastic bag still using his handkerchief, took out his tweezers from his inside pocket and caught something with them. Then he turned back with a wide smile on his mouth still holding the tweezers, he faced Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Randy and he said finally:

"Here's what happened…"

***

There were two pairs of feet standing outside, right in the back garden, which were willing to enter the house. Their owners knew too well that the kitchen window could be easily open from where they were, but there were too many people in the house at the moment. They'd have to wait a little more if they wanted to do things properly. But then, a male voice they had already heard before came to them:

"… Barbara started to date Sharona's uncle only because he had a considerable amount of money in his power. I guess Barbara and her husband Donald made some enquiries before selecting their victim, and they found Mike was completely alone. After some months of dating, Mike was certain that Barbara's intentions were good, so he changed his will for her to inherit all his money and belongings if he died. Of course, he might though that they were going to marry sooner or later, so everything was perfect, and he told her what he had done. Barbara and Donald had got exactly what they wanted. They made a plan to kill Sharona's uncle as soon as possible, but then, Sharona's family showed up and Uncle Mike decided to change his will again. Maybe he thought Benjy would need his money more than Barbara when he himself died. It's clear that Barbara and Donald didn't know this because if they had been aware of it, they wouldn't have killed Uncle Mike, for sure. Last Saturday, the couple, who had introduced themselves as siblings to everyone, built an alibi so that Barbara could kill Mike but say that she hadn't met him during the whole day. They were planning down the floor, so there were some workers in their house who said that they had seen a beautiful woman who matched Barbara's description perfectly when they were asked by the police. But she could have left the house for half an hour or more without being noticed by them. She arrived here and she knocked at the back door to come in. It's easier to be spotted by the neighbours if you got in a house by the front door. Mike wasn't surprised at all, because I'm sure she used to come to see him unexpectedly sometimes, as every lover does, I guess. I'm sure she managed to trap him in a tight embrace or something and she kissed him deeply in order to introduce the two aspirins in his mouth. It's nearly impossible to breathe when you're being kissed with passion. Mike fought, of course, but she was stronger, I'm afraid. Somehow he managed to push her, she fell down, her bag broke and her belongings scattered everywhere. Unfortunately for her, the perfume she was carrying broke and the liquid spread touching the carpet. Poor Uncle Mike died and he fell to the floor, being reached by the liquid too. Then Barbara needed to replace his splashed T-shirt, so she went upstairs and grabbed the first she could find: the brown one. You pointed it out correctly, Natalie, when we were looking at the photographs: maybe he wasn't very interested in matching colours, but he was a man with a refined taste, we have noticed it looking at his furniture downstairs. Black and brown don't match. So that gave me the key and I decided to look inside his wardrobe. After exchanging his T-shirts, Barbara wrapped the new one inside a plastic bag and put it away in the closet. Who was going to know that he hadn't died wearing the brown T-shirt? And why? He couldn't make the T-shirt disappear, because some people had seen Uncle Mike wearing it during the day and if someone decided to search for it in his wardrobe, it would be better if they discovered it inside a plastic bag as though Mike had determined to change before having lunch, rather than if they didn't find it. Then she cleaned the dining-room: that's why every window was open, because she needed to air the lower floor in order to make her characteristic smell disappear. The carpet came to be a problem so she decided to get rid of it. When everything was done, she left the house and went back to her home to be seen by the workers again. But the new T-shirt has kept her smell and I have found it, so now she can't deny that she met him the day he died."

"But how did you know what the new T-shirt was? There could be more shirts and T-shirts carrying Barbara's smell. It's quite common to be impregnated with your lover's scent when you have one" said a female voice.

There was a silence in the room and the two people who were in the back garden looked at each other panicking. Then, the female voice was heard again:

"Wow, you're amazing… I would have never though about this."

"We can also check my suspicions going to the shop where he bought his T-shirt and asking about the matter."

"Okay, we'll be right back in less than an hour. Randy, come with me. Sharona, where's the market where your uncle b…" and the words faded away in the air as the man who was saying them abandoned the room with the open window.

After a couple of minutes the front door slammed and two persons left the house leaving the other three inside. It was now or never, so the two who were still in the back garden entered the house through the kitchen window and started to go upstairs without making the slightest noise.

***

However, a little noise was made. One of the first wooden steps of the staircase was quite rotten, so when a foot pressed against it, the step creaked a little. Adrian Monk raised his head frowning and took Natalie's hand without speaking to pull her to the corridor. Then he headed to the room where Sharona was still looking for her uncle's carpet and motioned to her putting his finger before his lips. Then he pointed at the bedside table which was next to Sharona so that she took the lamp on it to be able to defend herself, and she run to hide behind a wicker folding screen. After that, Natalie and he looked around searching for any other blunt object. There it was the classical bat in a corner. Monk never had been so happy baseball was the first sport in the country. He grabbed it still clutching Natalie's hand and then pushed her towards the closet where Sharona has been looking for the missing carpet to hide there. Monk was still holding Natalie's hand when he closed the doors. They were so close to one another that Natalie could hear every beat inside her boss's chest. She looked up at him and saw an intense and concerned expression on his face. Adrian Monk was absolutely concentrated in hearing the slightest noise outside the wardrobe they were hiding in, but he hadn't let her hand go. In spite of being in that hard situation, Natalie felt inexplicably safe. However, she was worried for Sharona, because she wasn't able to see her between the closet gaps. Then some footsteps could be heard coming into the room. Natalie's heart began to beat furiously and she was afraid that it could give them away. It was throbbing so hard that she could feel her temples pulsating. Monk looked down at Natalie apprehensively and squeezed her hand to reassure her. She could read something in his eyes, but she wasn't sure what it was… Resolution, maybe. Then he closed his eyes and suddenly kissed Natalie's forehead softly. A shudder ran down her spine as she tightened her grip on his hand resting her head against his temple with her eyes shut tight. After a few seconds, Monk sighed and moved away from Natalie to look right in her eyes and, letting her hand go, he made a sudden movement before Natalie could prevent him for doing it and he opened the door closet violently to take the attackers by surprise.

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_You __aren't going to believe me! I had imagined my whole story before the episode "Mr. Monk and the Critic" was aired, I swear it. You can check the dates if you want, hahahaha. Now visualize my face when Natalie started to smell everyone in that episode… I thought 'Oh, my God, they've ruined my originality…'_

_I hope you liked this chapter, anyway. I'm afraid the end is coming… :)_

_Keep on reviewing. I love your comments!_


	8. Chapter 8: Unexpected situations

_Hi! I just want to explain something from the previous chapter that might have been difficult__ for you to understand. The woman who spoke after Monk told the "Here's what happened…" was Natalie, but I wrote that part from the intruder's point of view, so they didn't recognise her voice. :)_

_Enjoy this chapter. It's the longest one!_

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**Chapter 8: Unexpe****cted situations**

When someone thinks he's about to die, he can do some unexpected things that he would have never done in any other situation. And if he thinks someone he cares for could be in danger, these actions may reach disproportionate heights. Rational thought disappears and muscles and bones move after having been told by the heart rather than the brain. There's only feeling inside: adrenaline, fear, violence…

This was what had burst inside Adrian Monk's guts when he had heard the intruder's footsteps going beyond the room threshold. He had felt his assistant's heart beating against his chest; he had noticed her panic through their holding hands, so his heart had decided to act in a desperate way: he had dared to kiss Natalie for the first time in his life. He had perceived her warm forehead when he had posed his lips on it and he had to confess that it had been one of the most delightful feelings he had ever experienced. They had been nearly holding each other… Natalie had rested her head against his to stay as close as she could to him. Might the Captain be right? Did Natalie feel something for him? Or was she so afraid that she just needed someone to reassure her in that critical moment?

Whatever the case might be, that contact had made him to do his next desperately movement. Monk wasn't a very strong man, he wasn't extremely agile either; he didn't even have a plan to defeat the attacker. The only thing he had was a loving heart with a deep willing inside.

It had been precisely when he had opened the closet door that his brain had woken up at last and had realised that he was acting stupidly. But it was too late. So he silenced his mind and let his heart take the lead. He had burst out of the closet so violently that the intruder had stopped suddenly taken aback. He hadn't expected what he was seeing when he had stepped into the room. Monk saw that the attacker had his face hidden behind a black mask. He was tall and strong, and he was carrying a big knife in his right hand, so the first thing Monk did was hitting the man's right arm with the bat he had taken from the corner of the room. The intruder muffled a scream of pain, still surprised by Monk's sudden appearance, but he soon reacted and hurled himself forward to take the bat off Monk's hands. Though Monk tried to hold it tight, the other man was younger and stronger, and he finally lost his weapon when the attacker hit his cheek with a heavy fist. Adrian Monk stepped backwards losing his balance. He used a shelf to avoid an inconvenient fall which would have inclined the fight on his opponent's side irremediably. Anyway, the former detective wasn't in his best moment, with a knee on the ground, so the man raised the bat over his head to hit an unarmed Monk. But when the first one was about to let the bat fall down on Monk's head, the door closet -which had slammed after Monk had gotten out of the closet- opened again and hit the intruder fully in the face. The hurt man howled in pain and collapsed backwards. Natalie was panting heavily with both hands grabbing the closet door. She hurried to help Monk as Sharona showed up from behind the folding screen where she had been hiding.

"Are you okay?" she answered very concerned, still holding the lamp in her hand.

Natalie and Monk nodded. Then Monk headed to the bed and took away the pillowcase to tie the intruder's wrists. Natalie and Sharona knelt down beside him and the later removed the man's mask.

"Oh, my God! It's Donald! I can't believe it!"

"I supposed he would be" answered Monk. "But of course, you didn't hear what I said about him and Barbara when the Captain and Disher were still here. We've proven they killed your uncle. Barbara did it, actually."

"So you were right, as always… How did you confirm it?" Sharona asked half surprised, half alarmed.

"You said he had had his hair cut the day he died, remember? Well, if he bought his new T-shirt just before he went to the hairdresser's, it was necessary that the new T-shirt had some little pieces if hair on it. I found a red T-shirt in your uncle's closet with some short hairs on it and it smelled exactly like Barbara always does, so now she can't deny she was with him the day he died."

"Wow, Adrian, this is awesome!" exclaimed Sharona smiling.

Then, the three of them heard a muffled noise from Uncle Mike's bedroom. Before being able to prevent her from doing it, Monk and Natalie got surprised by Sharona's impulsiveness: she stood up and run towards the noise. They didn't want to give her away, so they were forced to stay silent: they couldn't shout at her to come back or to be careful. With a fast look at lying Donald to be sure that he was still unconscious, Monk followed Sharona across the corridor and so did Natalie, after taking the knife Donald had been carrying before Monk had gotten it off him. But when they were about to reach the door, they heard some kind of glass breaking against the floor and then, Sharona's shriek reached their ears. They turned the last corner feeling a great fear inside, so when they looked into the room they held their breaths. Fortunately, Sharona was alive but another intruder with a black mask was grabbing her from behind, holding a dagger against her bare neck. The lamp Sharona had been seizing was broken at her feet on the ground. The attacker was slightly shorter than the other one and it was clear to Monk and Natalie's eyes who the person behind the mask was.

"Barbara, you should let Sharona go" Monk said in the softer voice he could find.

"You aren't in condition to give any advice, brilliant detective" the intruder said without removing her mask. "This is what I want you to do if you don't want me to hurt this lovely woman: first of all, put your knife down, blondie."

Natalie looked at her very angry, but she did it. She knelt down slowly and left her knife on the ground as Monk followed sideways at her movements.

"Stay on your knees" Barbara ordered to Natalie without releasing the pressure she was doing on Sharona.

Natalie obeyed, looking pale and frightened. She was feeling absolutely powerless: she was able to do nothing to help Sharona, and Barbara seemed to be prepared to do anything to get what she wanted. Natalie noticed Monk's discomfort with the situation, and she was sure that his brain was racing to find a way out to solve the problem. But the solution didn't seem to be about to come.

"Okay" Barbara went on, "I want you to get out of my way. I'm going to leave the house with Sharona as a hostage. If you try to stop me, I'll kill her. If you try to call the police, I'll kill her. If you dare to move a little, I'll kill her. Understood?"

Natalie and Monk nodded slowly. He even raised his hands to show that he had no intentions to do anything wrong. Sharona's groans were filling the bedroom as the other talked.

"Perfect" the masked woman appreciated. She started to move grabbing Sharona by the neck with one hand and holding the big dagger in the other one. They passed Monk in their way to the corridor and when the two women were near the door, he said:

"I think you've forgotten to take the T-shirt."

"What T-shirt?" Barbara asked lowering her guard for a moment. It seemed that she was so absorbed in escaping from the house without harm that she had forgotten the reason she had entered for. And this was the moment Natalie took advantage of. She jumped towards Barbara and held her armed hand with both of hers to avoid Barbara to hurt Sharona. Then Monk also reacted and tried to snatch the dagger from her. After a few seconds of hard fight, Sharona hit Barbara's stomach with her elbow, so this allowed Monk to take the knife from the attacker's hand. Between Natalie and Sharona, they subdued the other woman and removed her mask too. Barbara was wearing the same salmon lipstick that she always wore, but they weren't able to smell her cologne. Of course, she might have thought that she could go unrecognised if she didn't wear her identity sign.

When Barbara was also lying on the floor, Sharona knelt down in front of her and stared at her eyes with the most disappointed and loathing look that Natalie had ever seen in anyone else's eyes before.

"You're disgusting", splat Sharona as she slapped Barbara in the face.

Monk moved suddenly to stop her but Natalie put a hand on his chest to prevent him from doing it.

"It's okay, Mr. Monk. She needed it. I think I would have done exactly the same. I would like to do it, indeed."

He sighed and looked at Natalie with his grave hazel eyes. She still had her hand on his chest, right in the place where his heart was beating rhythmically. They stared at each other calmly for a while, recreating in each other's presence as though nothing else was happening around them. Unconsciously, they both were trying to unveil the other's thoughts. After having held this close watching for a few minutes, Monk noticed that Natalie's cheek had a little cut on it, so he raised his hand and took his handkerchief out of his inside pocket to wipe away her brilliant scarlet blood. When he finished, she smiled sadly at him, grabbed his left arm and rested her head on his shoulder looking at kneeling Sharona.

Then the front door opened with a muffled noise and they heard Stottlemeyer's voice coming from the lower floor:

"Hey, Monk, another point for you, man! The new T-shirt was exactly the red one."

Sharona raised her eyes to look at Monk, and so did Natalie, who also stroked her boss's arm lovingly and pressed her body against his even more.

***

Barbara and Donald had been arrested and imprisoned under the evidence of murder. And for Monk's friends it was time to celebrate that they were reunited at last. Sharona and Benjy were leaving the next day in the morning, so Trevor had arrived at San Francisco during the afternoon to take them to New Jersey by car, so after Monk, Natalie and Sharona had already been calmed down and attended by the paramedics right in Uncle Mike's front garden that very morning, Captain Stottlemeyer had suggested the idea of going out together that last night to have some fun.

Of course, Monk agreed reluctantly after Sharona and Natalie begged for his presence at the party. Now, he was wearing one of his best and newest suits in a downtown pub with the music too loud. He had been seating alone for a while, watching his friends dancing. There were Benjy and Julie in a corner, talking about their lives and common acquaintances; Monk suspected that they could come to have a good and friendly relationship if they lived closer, because they had spent the evening laughing together as though they had known each other for a long time. Captain Stottlemeyer had invited his pretty new 'friend' TK Jensen to the party, and they were trying to dance in a very funny way: Leland had never been a good dancer, but it was clear to Monk that they were having a lot of fun too. TK seemed to be a kind woman; at least, Captain had been able to find someone better than Linda... Only a few steps beyond them, Randy was teaching Natalie how to dance in a 'modern way', as he had said before taking her from the seat next to Monk fifteen minutes ago. Both were catching everyone's attention with their odd choreographies, but nobody cared because they were too hilarious to get annoyed by them. Monk smiled miserably knowing that he could never do such things because of his fears and shyness, and that made him sad. He would have liked to be funny, interesting... and normal. But he wasn't. He couldn't understand why he was feeling that way at that very moment. '_I thought I had already assimilated this…_', he told himself. Then he sighed and rubbed his temples to forget what he was thinking to keep on looking around. As far as Sharona was concerned, she was chatting to her husband Trevor a few seats further away. She seemed to be pleased as she was telling him the story they had lived in the morning, and Monk felt happy for her. There was a time when he had missed her a lot, but now, he had Natalie by his side. Lovely Natalie… Always taking care of him and being there anytime for him... He wished he could move on like Sharona had done, rebuild his life… But somehow, rebuilding his life seemed to mean that Trudy must be forgotten, and he wasn't ready for that.

He rubbed his temples again and hid his face behind his hands, feeling very tired. Suddenly, a gentle hand started to caress his nape. Its owner was running some warm fingers through his hair, playing now and then with his black curls. With his eyes still covered by his hands, Monk smiled softly thinking of Trudy. She must be there with him; she was the only person missing at the party. However, when he raised his face to look at the person who was next to him, he didn't see Trudy, but Natalie. He looked at the dance floor to look for her dancing with Randy, but Lieutenant Disher had found another well-rounded companion and was snogging her passionately. Then Monk looked back at Natalie, who was still running her left fingers through his hair staring in Randy's direction.

"Randy…" she said smiling. "I'm sure he will never grow up."

Monk was too confused to answer. Was Natalie really stroking his neck? He felt a shudder but let Natalie keep on doing it. She wasn't apparently paying attention to the situation, so Monk closed his eyes and relaxed a little as she went on playing with his hair. Then she stopped and looked at Monk quite amused.

"Would you like to dance with me, boss?" she asked holding out her hands to him.

"Of course not!" he refused moving his chair away from her to reinforce his words.

"Oh, c'mon! You've never danced with me!"

"I-I don't know how to… to do it" he stuttered.

"I know you can dance because I've seen you before, Mr. Monk! Do you remember that wonderful red vacuum cleaner? I wish I could be it!" begged Natalie with her best smile. "Pleeeease…"

Monk looked at her with a very pale face and he sighed.

"Okay" he said standing up.

Natalie hurled herself forward with great joy and put her arms around Monk's neck to hug him tight. Then, she took him by the hand and pulled him towards the dance floor. Monk felt exceptionally uncomfortable but he didn't dare to go back. Natalie looked so happy… When they reached the centre, Natalie turned around to face him with a huge smile on her beautiful lips and placed both hands behind Monk's neck, as she had done when she had hugged him a few seconds ago. Monk raised his hands and moved them in the air without knowing where to put them, so Natalie took them softly and placed them on her waist. Then she moved a little closer and she whispered in his ear with a very fascinating voice:

"Don't be afraid, Adrian. I'm just Nat."

He smiled nervously without looking at her, and let Natalie take the lead of their dancing as he abandoned himself to his thoughts. Natalie had called him Adrian! It was the second time she had done it. The first time had been the day he had gone with her to the bar where she was working when they met five years ago, and she had never called him by his first name since the moment she had started to work for him… until then. Monk felt inexplicably happy. What did that exactly mean? Maybe Natalie considered him more than a mere boss. Could it be said that they were… at least friends? Adrian Monk went back down to earth and gazed at Natalie with curiosity. She had already been looking at him for a while with her piercing greenish eyes and was no longer smiling. Her fingers, still placed behind Monk's neck, had started to play with his curls again unconsciously. Monk's heart was beating painfully, as though it wanted to untie itself from the veins which were holding it, but the brilliant detective wasn't able to pay attention to what was happening inside his body: he could only feel some kind of warm fluid running through his muscles and flesh. Natalie was so beautiful in her red dress… It matched her blond hair and ivory skin so perfectly… Then, the same idea crossed their minds at that very moment: '_What if I…?_', and they drew closer to each other feeling something indescribable inside. But when their noses were just a few inches away from each other's one, Monk seemed to have a sudden vision in Natalie's eyes and turned his face 'in extremis'. Natalie gave a resigned sigh and was satisfied with kissing the air near his left cheek. Then she moved away from him with a heartbreaking smile, rubbed his arm gently and disappeared among the crowd leaving Monk alone in the colourful semidarkness of the dance floor.

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_They were so close! Keep on reading, you'll find a beautifu__l reward at the end, I can tell._

_I intended to finish the story before Sharona returned to the series, but she's coming next Friday so I think it will be impossible! There are still two chapters left (there must be 10, of course, the perfect number in Monk's world), so I would have to dedicate a lot of time to writing issues and I don't have much time! _

_Ok, I promise I'll try to update soon. But go on reviewing, please! I need your comments! Thank you for reading the story and leaving your opinions on the board (and I'm sure you know I'm very sorry for the multiple mistakes you find in my writings)._


	9. Chapter 9: Unexpected decisions

**Chapter 9: Unexpected decisions**

When Natalie had left Monk alone in the dance floor, she had disappeared. After a few minutes, Stottelmeyer had approached Monk to tell him that Natalie had left. The funniest thing was that Julie was still there, chatting to Benjy, so it had been difficult for Monk at first to believe what the Captain had said. But then, he had thought of Julie's age and the multiple ways she could choose to go back home without her mother's help and he had finally realised that Natalie had truly left. Julie had offered to take him to his home, and he had accepted very upset. After saying goodbye to all their friends, they had gone deep in the cold night to reach the car. Julie had spent the whole journey talking about how much fun she had had chatting to Benjy, but Monk had said very few words. Then they had arrived at his home at last and the conversation between Julie and him had changed sensibly to a more serious matter Monk didn't want to think about now. After leaving Julie, he had gone to bed immediately and had faintly tried to decipher what the thing which had made him turn his face from Natalie had been. But he was so tired that he wasn't able to stay awake to think about what had happened.

Adrian Monk put the blankets over himself and sank in a deep sleep full of nightmares.

***

Both Monk and Natalie woke up early the next morning. It was Sunday, so they weren't supposed to see each other during that day. But there was a fact which was going to ruin Natalie's freedom: Sharona was leaving to New Jersey and they had promised to go to her sister's to say goodbye. Natalie closed her eyes with a resigned expression. She really needed that day off to think about everything from a relative distance: her life, her relationship with her boss, her job… And it was clear that it wasn't going to exist any distance if she had to see Monk that day. She hadn't spoken to him since her leaving from the pub, so she didn't know if she was supposed to pick him up. After considering the matter for a few minutes, she decided to let the Captain do it because she didn't have the strength at the moment. Sighing again she finally managed to go downstairs, where she found Julie having a very quick breakfast.

"Morning, mom" said the girl. "I was about to wake you up. We're nearly late."

Natalie approached her daughter and kissed her cheek without a word. Julie watched her suspiciously as she started to pour some hot water in a cup.

"Are you okay? Is your head better? I got a little worried last night when you left."

"Yes, sweetie. I'm fine" Natalie assured quite faintly.

Julie stopped eating and looked at her mother with concerned eyes. Then she left her cup of milk on the table and leaned back in her chair.

"Why did you leave yesterday?"

"Julie, I already told you. I felt a sudden headache-"

"Yes, mom, that's what you told me yesterday, but I want the truth today" said Julie with her eyes on her mother's.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you… you two: Mr. Monk and you dancing. I couldn't believe my eyes, really. Well, I mean, I've seen you dancing before, but Mr. Monk dancing with you? Wow, I got very surprised and so did Benjy."

Natalie blinked twice under her daughter's attentive look. It scared her how much Julie had matured in very few years.

"I don't know what you're thinking, Julie, but there's nothing strange between-"

"C'mon, mom. When are you going to tell me everything? I thought you trusted in me..."

"I do! There's nothing to tell." Natalie answered raising her hands.

"Okay" said Julie defiantly. "So if there's nothing to tell, why did you try to kiss Mr. Monk yesterday night?"

"I-I didn't! Why am I under the impression that you're interrogating me?" asked Natalie evasively.

"Because that's exactly what I'm doing. I want to know! I think I deserve it!"

Natalie opened her mouth in amazement and answered "But what do you want to know, Julie? There's nothing going on, I swear it!"

Then Julie leaned in towards her mother making no sound and kept silent for a few seconds looking intensely at Natalie's face. After her close watching she said with a very calm and confident voice which made Natalie tremble:

"Mom, look at me and tell me you don't love Mr. Monk."

Natalie held her daughter's piercing look as though she was measuring her, and then, she said with a surrender sigh:

"I do."

Julie smiled a satisfactory smile and leaned back again. "I knew it."

"Don't think something's going to happen between Mr. Monk and me, Julie, you know who he is. It's impossible."

"It's not, mom. Love can defeat any fear and-" Julie dreamt.

"You're too young, sweetie, and your ideas are too romantic. But they don't have a practical application in this real case. Mr. Monk is Mr. Monk, the most incorrect person to fall in love with, and we have to face that." Natalie said very convinced. "Remember what he did yesterday night when we got slightly closer to each other. I've been loving him for a long time, Julie, and I've always known where the limits were. The problem is that I really really love Mr. Monk…"

After Natalie's heartbreaking confession, Julie felt very sorry for her. It hadn't been her intention to make her mother miserable.

"I'm sorry, mom. I had no idea of how much you were suffering."

"It's okay, dear." Natalie comforted her daughter by rubbing her hand. "I think I've gotten too involved with him during these five years and I've forgotten myself in order to take care of him. Mr. Monk is so vulnerable! But you already know him, of course… He may have a breakdown anytime and I've always thought that it was up to me to avoid that. And now, after five years of working along with him, I find myself in a very hard situation, because I love him, but he will never be able to love me, Julie. That's consuming me, so I've thought that maybe it's time to leave his side and move on…"

"Oh, please, mom, don't do that! I'm very fond of Mr. Monk and I need him as much as you do! He has always been there for me when I've needed him and I'm sure he would be able to start something with you if he found himself comfortable with the idea of loving you. C'mon, mom, you're already like a married couple! You go together everywhere, every time. You tease, you laugh, you argue… Now that I've checked that you really love him, I have to tell you that I had a little conversation with him yesterday night when I took him home…"

Julie paused and Natalie stared at her with a very sceptical but quite curious look.

"Mr. Monk was very sorry, I can tell." Julie went on. "He told me that he was having a very nice night-"

"He was seated all the time! Is that his idea of having fun?" interrupted Natalie.

"No, mom. His idea of having fun is dancing with you, he told me. He felt very sorry when you left because he knew he had hurt you, and I think I could read something else inside his eyes that he didn't say. He cares a lot about you, about us, indeed, but I think it's very difficult for him to express what he feels. Maybe all he needs is time…"

"I love the way you've grown up, Julie. You're so considerate and sensitive that I'm very proud of you." Natalie gave a bright smile to her daughter. "I know Mr. Monk needs time and I'm not mad at him for that: I know him too well. But as time passes, I need him so desperately that my heart breaks almost every day when I realise that what I feel is only a chimera…"

A depressing chill filled up the kitchen after Natalie's last word. Julie felt some tears coming to her eyes, but she contained them. Then she said in a very weak voice:

"I still think he loves you, mom."

"My mind is made up. Don't think it isn't going to be hard for me, but I'm going to quit. Of course I won't tell him today: it would be very difficult for him to lose his two assistant the same day. I'll speak to him tomorrow." Natalie sighed and then said with apparently renewed strengths "Okay, Julie, give me ten minutes and I'll be right back ready to go out."

She stood up, kissed her daughter's forehead and disappeared upstairs leaving Julie very gloomy in the kitchen looking at her mother's cup of now cold water, which had been left completely untouched.

***

When they arrived at Gail's, everybody was already in the street. Julie's sadness disappeared momentarily when she got out the car and saw freckly Benjy waiting for her at the pavement. Monk, who was talking to Stottlemeyer and Sharona's sister, raised her head when he heard Natalie's steps walking down the street, but he daren't to approach her.

Nothing especially remarkable happened during the farewell. Natalie was quite absent-minded the first five minutes, but then she changed her mood a little. Sharona and her family didn't deserve her melancholic face. When it came her time to say goodbye to her boss's former assistant, she took a step forward and hugged her.

"It's been a pleasure to know you, Sharona. Thanks for everything."

"No! Thank you, Natalie! Take care of Adrian, please… I know I should have come before to check if he was okay, but you know… life…"

Natalie gave her a comforting smile. "Of course, I understand. It's very difficult to deal with life… But I see it is smiling at you at last. You have a wonderful son and a fantastic husband who-"

"Don't say that too loud. Between you and me, the truth is that Trevor and I don't really get on well, you know… We usually share some ideas and good moments but I think we don't love each other anymore. If I haven't separated from him yet is because I've always thought that it would be too hard for Benjy to go through that situation again."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that…"

Sharona smiled apparently cheerful and said "Don't worry, time will tell. I have always loved San Francisco and its people; so maybe, when Benjy goes to college I'll be able to reconsider my situation."

"Good luck, Sharona. You already know where we are if you need us", said Natalie hugging her again.

"Thank you! By the way, you're doing a great job with Adrian. I've found him much better. Keep on doing what you're doing and I'm sure he will be completely cured sooner or later. Well, maybe not completely, but he's experimented an extraordinary advance, so he will go on improving."

Natalie blushed noticeably and thanked Sharona's words by saying "He would have never been able to get better without you."

"I think we make a great team, girl."

Both women smiled and say goodbye to each other feeling a little more comforted. Natalie's eyes followed Sharona and saw her walking towards Randy. He didn't let her started to speak, but embraced her with all his strengths closing his eyes. Natalie felt very sorry for him, because then she knew that he still felt something for Sharona. However, after having heard Sharona's confession, she caught sight of a weak light for Randy at the end of the tunnel. After all, Love was unexpected and mysterious and Natalie knew it perfectly.

While she was thinking this, she glimpsed at Monk unconsciously and caught him looking at her over Stottlemeyer's shoulder. He was pretending he was listening to Gail and him but Natalie knew he was completely concentrated on her figure and movements. She broke eye contact with him immediately and looked at her daughter, who was holding hands with Benjy. He said goodbye to her kissing her slightly on the lips, after what Julie hit his arm teasingly. Natalie wanted to laugh, but she thought that it would make them feel uncomfortable, so she muffled a snort. Well, sometimes Love wasn't unexpected at all!

Then Sharona headed to Monk, who had been left alone by Stottlemeyer and Gail. They shared a few words before hugging each other. It was such a cute scene that Natalie couldn't repress a sigh. Stottlemeyer heard her and got closer to rest a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, I know", he said looking at them. "Don't worry, Natalie. He will get over this. The one who worries me now is Randy…"

"I think there's always hope, Captain", she answered. Talking about some things was so easy when words had nothing to do with her…

He smiled looking in Sharona and Benjy's direction. They were already heading to the car, where Trevor had been waiting for them during the whole farewell. Natalie saw Randy getting closer to Julie and throwing his left arm over her shoulders to comfort her and to feel comforted by a shared grief. Gail said goodbye to everybody and got in her house wiping away a little tear.

As they all saw the car disappearing in the distance, a melancholic silence surrounded them. When the car finally turned a corner and they lost sight of it, Natalie called Julie and said goodbye to the others very quickly, alleging that she had a lot of things to do in her day off. Before she started to walk up the street towards her car, she saw Julie approaching to Monk. Then her daughter did one of those unexpected things which make you reconsider everything: she threw her arms around Monk's body and kissed his cheek lovingly. It was obvious that she had caught Monk unawares, because he didn't know what to do, so he became rigid. But he felt something very important growing under his skin and after a few seconds he hugged her back pressing his temple against Julie's head with his eyes closed. Monk didn't know why Julie was embracing him that way, but he felt a smooth calm inside. When they broke her embrace, the girl stroked his cheek briefly and turned around to run towards her mother, who was waiting for her with her eyes full of tears. Natalie waved in the air and the two ladies headed their steps to their car holding hands, leaving the three men absolutely puzzled.

***

It was a very dark and cold night outside the window. Adrian Monk had his nose pressed against the glass with his eyes fixed upon something undefined. He wasn't really seeing anything, but staring into the void without any purpose. A gentle rain started to fall down. Water left some thin traces on the window glass, where Monk's reflection looked very pale and miserable. He was holding a pillow against his body. Trudy's pillow. He needed to talk to her desperately, so he had been smelling her pillow for two long hours.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and closed his eyes smiling sadly. Monk turned around to face the person who was behind him and he came across Trudy's understanding eyes. There was something in them that reminded him something he had also seen in Natalie's ones. Then he knew why he had turned his face last night in the critical moment: he had seen a hint of her beloved late wife in them.

"Hello, Adrian", greeted Trudy's voice taking Monk's left hand in hers.

"Trudy… I-I need to talk to you… It's very strange, but… well, I don't know how to say this… how to explain-"

"You don't have to, Adrian. Remember that I can see you every time. I know what you think and feel, and I notice a very strong pain inside your heart… And I also know what is making you feel that sorrow."

"Do you? And what do you think about it? I'll understand if you get mad at me, Trudy…" Monk said removing his hand from hers.

"I'm not mad at you. How could I be? Isn't it Love what you're feeling?"

"Well… I don't know."

Trudy smiled. "It is, Adrian. You told Leland, remember? I think you have lots of Love in your heart and you need to share it because it will explode if you don't."

Monk looked into her eyes for a while without saying anything and then took one of her hands again to pull her towards the bed. They sat down on it holding hands.

"Do you know what Julie did this morning? He hugged and kissed me as though I were… well… her father."

"Did that surprise you?" asked Trudy smiling.

"Yes, of course. I'm very very fond of Julie and I have often thought of her as a daughter, but her hug was so unexpected… I'm a detective, Trudy, and I can tell something's going on… something that I'm not sure I'm going to like."

"You're right. You're losing Natalie", Trudy said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Monk stared at her not very amazed, because he was expecting some answer like that after Natalie's last night leaving. Anyway, he lowered his head and sighed in pain.

"What can I do, Trudy? I don't know what I feel and-"

"Yes, you do. I just told you, Adrian. You have some kind of feeling for Natalie, and that's wonderful because it means that you're getting over the past."

Adrian Monk shook his head as he said "But that means that I don't love you anymore! And that isn't possible, because my heart still hurts when I think of you!"

He squeezed Trudy's hand and rubbed it with his thumb. She squeezed his back to comfort him and then whispered:

"You'll always love me, as everyone always loves the people they lose. But it has to be a different kind of Love, because you have to move on and be happy. You aren't happy now, Adrian, and I really want you to be."

"I need to solve your murder. I won't be able to feel or do anything until I came to a conclusion on that matter…"

"Don't waste your time. I think you had learnt that life is too short. I'm sure you will solve everything when the right time comes, but you have to solve your life too, dear. And you have to start to do it right now."

Monk and Trudy looked at each other. Then Monk smiled sadly and rested his head on Trudy's shoulder.

"I'm only a daydream now, Adrian. I'm a memory from the past which can't come back to be with you. You have to live in the real world, where you have a lot of people who care about you. You've found Natalie and Julie. They're your family now. I know they'll never let you down because they're wonderful and they need you as much as you need them. Don't be selfish, Adrian, or you will lose those ladies. They both love you with all their hearts and I know you love them in return."

Monk nodded slightly and sighed again. Then he raised his head to look at Trudy right in the eyes.

"So, is-is it okay for you if I-I… lo-… lo-…"

"Love"

"… love Natalie?"

"It's okay for me."

"But, Trudy… Will I ever see you again after I'll take the next step in my relationship with Natalie?"

Then Trudy stood up and said "Yes, Adrian, but only until you solve my case. After that, we won't see each other again."

Monk stood up suddenly and looked at Trudy with his most sorrowful expression.

"Don't worry, Adrian. You'll always find me here when you need me" and she placed her right hand on Monk's chest. "But you won't need me a lot from now on, you'll see. You'll find everything in Julie and, of course, in Natalie. You three will live a very interesting and lovely life together."

"I will miss you, Trudy…"

"You've been missing me too many years. It's time to let me be a memory from the past. You deserve a better life than the one you're having now because you are the one…"

Trudy raised her hand and stroked Monk's cheek, exactly as Julie had done that very morning. They got closer to each other and hugged tight. Monk was able to smell Trudy's scent once again. He closed his eyes and recreated in her smelling. After a few seconds he said: "Thank you for everything, Trudy. I will never forget you…"

When he opened his eyes, these were full of tears and he found himself hugging the pillow he had been holding for so long. There was no trace of Trudy anywhere, so Monk let his tears fall down his cheeks. He sat on the floor still holding Trudy's pillow in a close embrace, weeping like a child. But after one hour of hard crying he felt better, put Trudy's pillow away in its plastic container and wiped away his tears with some wipes he found in one of his drawers. Then he stared at the packet of wipes and a brilliant idea crossed his mind like a lightning.

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_I've broken my own record! This is the longest chapter ever! I hope you enjoy it._

_I have to say that I prefer the closure the real writers have given to Sharona in the series by far. :) It's perfect, but I couldn't dream with something like that in this story… What an error…__ As you can see I've used some ideas from the real episode. Forgive me for it, but I think they were great._

_As far as Trudy and Monk's scene is concerned… I wanted to cry while I was writing it. I finished it wondering if I really wanted Monk to end up with Natalie! Hopefully__ for you, I had the last chapter already written…_

_Be prepared, my friends, next one is the last chapter… What's going to happen to Monk and Natalie's story?! Is everything lost for them?_

_Keep on reading and reviewing, please. Thank you!!_


	10. Chapter 10: The Unexpected again

**Chapter 10: The Unexpected… again**

It had been a very difficult night for Natalie. She hadn't slept at all, because she had spent every single hour thinking about the tricky thing she was going to do that morning. Although she was very tired, Natalie got up extremely early and tried to listen to the radio, read the book which was on her bedside table or watch some TV, but he always appeared in her mind suddenly and ruined her attempts to relax. Finally, tired of wandering aimlessly around her house, Natalie dressed up and checked that Julie was still in bed before going out. She didn't want her daughter to know that her mind was completely made up, that she had reached a kind of point of no return, so she slipped away without being notice. The matter was already enough difficult and sad without Julie's romantic ideas hitting her.

Since it had been raining the whole night, pavements and roads were slightly wet. The skies looked gloomy, as though they felt some kind of pity for what Natalie was going to do. She shook her head to dismiss that idea and headed to her car, but then she checked her watch and discovered that it was still too early to go to Monk's apartment, so she decided to go walking to kill time. Of course, her walking wasn't pleasant at all: Natalie went through lots of places that she had visited with Monk during their five years working together and everything was a memory. '_You have to do it, Natalie; you know it perfectly_' she though crossing the piece of land where the Trudy Monk Memorial Playground was going to be built. She paused for a while, staring at the place where the parking where Trudy had died twelve years ago had been.

'_Why does life have to be so unfair?_' she wondered bitterly. Then her eyes became full of tears and she screamed into the void "We deserve something better!!!"

Echo gave her back the word "better" three times hopelessly. Natalie shook her head again, breathed deeply to calm down and went on walking to her boss's house.

When she reached Monk's front door at last, she paused in front of it looking down and sighing. She took the key out of her bag very slowly and opened the door with too much calm. The poor woman felt a huge urge to cry, but she had always considered herself a tough person so she used all the strength she had inside to fight back tears. Her mind was made up: she had to do what she had to do. Natalie knew that it was going to be very difficult, because she had always been against doing any harm to Monk; however, she had realised that it was time for her to think on her health and heart.

When she closed the door, she had to sigh again to encourage herself. Natalie was so nervous that her heart was beating extremely fast. She closed her eyes and thought: '_Okay, Natalie Teeger, calm down. You have to be strong. It's just saying goodbye and leaving_'. She sighed once again and opened her eyes to take a first step towards the living room, where she supposed Monk would be.

But then she saw an unfolded wipe lying on the floor in front of her. A lonely and mysterious wipe. Natalie frowned at its sight and decided to take a closer look, so she knelt down and took it from the ground. There were some words written on it in Adrian Monk's perfect handwriting:

_Sometimes a wipe is just a wipe…_

Natalie frowned a little more and blinked repeatedly. Was it an encoded message? Was it addressed to her?

"Mr. Monk?" she called. She obtained no answer.

Natalie took a step forward to look for him at his living room, but then she saw another wipe left on the dinning room floor. Natalie knelt down again and read that second one:

… _but sometimes wipes…_

'_What does this mean?_' she thought absolutely surprised. A few inches ahead, near the kitchen threshold, she discovered another wipe, so she decided not to stand up but going on squatting and she collected it:

… _wipe away tears…_

'_Wow_', Natalie had to confess to herself that the sentence was touching. '_This is why I fell in love with this man: behind his apparently selfish and uncaring exterior, he's so brilliant and…_' Suddenly, she stopped thinking and shook her head. Her mind was made up! She looked ahead with curiosity and started to surround the kitchen table, still squatting. There it was another unfolded wipe. Natalie took it and looked at the next part of the message:

… _like the fears YOU've taken off me…_

Natalie got her eyes wide open and stopped breathing. That '_YOU_' in capital letters… What the hell was Adrian Monk trying to do?

She hurled herself forward to look for another wipe to complete the meaning of the mysterious message and right after having left the kitchen, she found another one in the corridor again. Natalie could hardly wait to read it, so she grabbed the wipe with great eagerness and read:

… _so let me say that…_

'… _what?!_' Natalie thought. She raised her eyes trying to discover the next wipe. There it was in the leaving room, near the couch.

… _from now on..._

'_Oh, God…_' The next one was beside Monk's brown leather armchair. Natalie approached to it still crouching and seized it.

… _the only wipe I'll need will be…_

When she was reading these words, a pair of well-known shoes appeared just in front of her eyes. She raised her head with her heart beating very fast. There it was Adrian Monk in his perfectly ironed shirt, staring down at her with his gravest expression. His hands were at stomach-level and he was holding something in them. Natalie stood up without taken her eyes off his during the process. Then she lowered her eyes to his hands, where she found another wipe: as she could guess, the last one.

… _just YOU._

Natalie contained a sob covering her mouth with her free hand. She didn't know if she was happy or not: 'astonished' was the first word which came to her mind. Some tears started to struggle against her strengths again, but she was able to fight them back momentarily. She took that last wipe from Monk's hands and held it close to her pounding heart closing her eyes. Then Natalie looked at Monk, whose expression showed a high level of concentration and anxiety. He was frowning a little and his lips were tight closed. As Natalie didn't know what to do, so amazed she was, she did nothing at all, waiting for Monk's next reaction, because she knew that he was taking a very important step forward with these actions.

Then Monk took a new wipe out of his inside pocket without a word and held it closer to Natalie's mouth. She stood very still and let him do. Monk started wiping her lips very carefully, as though he was caressing them, and Natalie thought she knew what he was going to do next. She felt her heart beating against her ribs as she realised. Although he wanted to do what he was going to do and he was sure he didn't have to wipe Natalie's lips, Monk did it because it was necessary for him to check up before throwing himself into the void. Then he put the wipe back in his pocket and took a step closer to Natalie. They could feel each other's breaths, each other's racing hearts. Natalie could hardly believe what was going to happen in a few seconds. Monk raised his hands slowly and dared to place them on Natalie's face sides. He was looking into her eyes so deeply that the rest of the world seemed to have disappeared from her sight. They both were only concentrated in each other's presence, in the next step they were going to take. Monk got slightly closer and approached his face to Natalie's still holding her head. Their noses were now a few inches away, like they had been two nights ago in the dance floor. By that moment, Natalie had surrendered absolutely to Monk's hazel eyes, where she had already sunk some seconds ago. When they were able to feel each other's breaths in their skin they both closed their eyes and kept on getting closer until the big thing happened.

Monk's lips found Natalie's and he gave them a gentle kiss, as though he was afraid of breaking her. And it was like Magic.

Adrian Monk's warm lips were right against Natalie's for a very little time. A sudden shiver ran down her spine, so she trembled a little under Monk's kiss. This contact lasted just for three or four seconds but Natalie thought it had been one of the greatest sensations she had ever felt. She didn't open her eyes when Monk ended the brief kiss they had shared and rested his forehead against hers, still holding her face in his hands.

Natalie couldn't believe what they were experiencing together: she had never imagined that Adrian Monk would be able to fall in love with her. And there they were, standing in Monk's living room kissing each other, expressing their feelings at last. Natalie didn't want to think that she had been about to quit just fifteen minutes ago. Every bad sensation and thought she had had during last night seemed so distant in the past… Now she wanted to cry and laugh at a time, once she had found her place in Monk's arms, but she did neither of them: she just put her arms around his torso and removed her head from his hands to rest it on his shoulder. That was the first real embrace they shared in five years, and Monk didn't feel uncomfortable at all. He was very happy with Natalie's reactions. After all, the Captain was right: she also felt something for him. Now, Monk knew that that something was a very special thing which really meant Love.

After a while Monk pulled away to look at Natalie right in the eyes, because he wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to put it in words, and he stared at her with all the intensity he could manage. Then Natalie felt a great and sudden happiness to have him there with her after all the years she had been suffering, so she burst out laughing, stroke his cheek and flung herself forward to hug him again in a tight and funny embrace full of joy. Monk also smiled, now hardly released from any kind of tension, and blushed visibly under Natalie's enthusiasm but hugged her in return.

"I love you… Adrian", she whispered in his ear as she continued hugging him.

Monk kept silent for a second or two, thinking on the four words he was going to pronounce, and then he said with a very clear voice:

"I LOVE YOU, Natalie."

She smiled against his shoulder before pulling away. Then she leaned in to kiss him tenderly again after what she took his hand and stepped towards the couch, where they sat down still holding hands and staring at each other as though they didn't want to miss a thing. They leaned against the couch and Natalie rested her head on Monk's shoulder, ready to share one of the happiest mornings she would ever remember. They would have time to tell their friends and Julie, but that moment was just theirs. Actually, they did nothing special apart from being together the whole morning, chatting, teasing, playing with wipes and laughing, which they had been doing for five years by now, and since that was exactly what had made them happy for so many time, why change all their good habits? After all, Monk and Natalie had gotten so used to each other that the big shakedown they were giving to their lives lay on the physical intimacy they might reach in the future, because their souls had already belonged with each other for a long time by now.

As they had realised, the most unexpected and delicious things can always be found in the everyday little details…

THE END

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_Well, my friends__… It's been a pleasure to share my story and ideas with you. I hope you enjoyed the whole story and the chapters were worth reading. I did my best with this last one, so I can say it's my favourite one. Did you like it? REVIEW, please!_

_Ple__ase, forgive my grammar mistakes. You've been very understanding and loyal!_

_Thanks for reading! "See" you!_


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